


Animus Online

by Lirimaer



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Sword Art Online, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Drama & Romance, F/M, Fantasy, MMORPG, Multi, Romance, Romantic Comedy, School Life, Science Fiction, Virtual Reality, mmorpg fantasy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-06
Updated: 2016-08-08
Packaged: 2018-05-31 12:47:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 34,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6470524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lirimaer/pseuds/Lirimaer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With the invention of a virtual reality device that allows you to explore an open-world MMORPG you are able to experience a brand new world like never before. Are the captivating members of the Bangtan Guild whom you meet during your adventures truly the strangers you expect they are?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Elementalist

Gnarled claws, caked with mud, swipe at your face as you deftly maneuver yourself out of their way. The beady black eyes of the giant brown bear focus on your own as the creature moves to stand upon its hind legs, releasing a guttural growl that rips through your eardrums. The thunderous sound amplifies your adrenaline rush, causing you to shiver with anticipation. As the bear lurches forward in an attempt to rip you apart, you utter a war cry and dodge, willing magical energy to burst forth from your palms in the form of luminescent blue, crackling electricity. 

“Take this, mangy beast!” you scream as you shove your palms in its direction, willing the volatile electric chains to propel towards the bear. You quickly dart backwards, feeling the electrostatic charge throughout the atmosphere as the bright chains of energy consume the bear violently. The beast emits an agonized wail as it plummets toward the ground. The residual static clinging to its still form subsides, as do the crackling sparks dancing across your palms.

You kneel beside the lifeless body and activate it to loot the spoils you earned. “I’m glad I at least got a pelt out of this,” you sigh with exhaustion. “And that I don’t actually have to skin this creature.”

There is no hesitation in your movements as you drop onto the ground and lie on your back beside the bear’s body. You turn your head to watch attentively as its form dissipates into scattered pixels. You stretch your hand toward the space the bear had occupied, feeling mystified despite having already seen it occur several times during your elemental skill training. You allow your extended arm to drop on the ground within the space and take a moment to scan the forest setting before you. You were lying in a small clearing, surrounded by thick, vibrant green trees. Sunlight seeps through the foliage, greeting the blades of grass while embracing the ground generously as a blanket of bright warmth. Near the coarse trunks of trees were many colorful patches of fungi sprouting from the ground. You listen carefully to the collective chirping of a flock of birds flying over the canopies of trees above you, eyes locking onto their graceful forms as they fly away from the clearing. 

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this,” you whisper in awe, as you absorb the sensory details surrounding you. 

When your best friend, Eun-hye, had suggested that you play a virtual reality game to relieve the stress of University life - and in her case, medical school - you had not anticipated how much of the game would truly resemble the “reality” part. Her uncle, a programmer for the ground-breaking MMORPG Animus Online, had offered to you both the chance to become beta-testers for the game and provided you with the virtual reality headset that made it possible for you to explore this new dimension. In return, you had promised to log onto the game as often as possible to experience the game while checking for any glitches and bugs that the programmers could have missed. As of now, the game had been available as Open-Beta for several months for players who were either willing to purchase the pricey brain-computer interface headset or lucky enough to receive one from a developer.

You had played massively multiplayer online role-playing games before, but the new technology required by Animus Online had been beyond the scope of your imagination until the memorable day you first connected to its server. The amount of detail, both sensory and aesthetic, had floored you during your first play-through. 

* * *

_After setting up the complicated headset, which contained a series of strategically placed electrodes, your consciousness seemingly transcended to a new plane of existence. You had appeared in a blank, white world, helplessly formless as you stared at your own body. It felt strange and uncomfortable for you to feel so literally disembodied. Fortunately, the game system, incorporeal as well, appeared to assist you throughout the character customization process by providing you with a visual interface to navigate selections. Using your real body as a template, you gradually sculpted a new look for yourself. While the idea of looking entirely different appealed to you for a moment, you decided to abstain from making too many drastic changes. Your friend was expecting you, and you didn’t want her to have trouble finding you amongst a crowd. You also admitted to yourself that you weren’t willing to rob yourself of the little familiarity you had in this strange dimension. That however, did not stop you from giving yourself violet eyes just for the hell of it._

_You explored the fantasy races available within the game thoroughly before making a decision about your own. Unfortunately, although there were many unique races, such as angel and demon races, many were locked. You could only assume there would eventually be special events available that could help you switch races. After some deliberation by reading each race description, you decided to become a part of the Elf race due to its increased mana, which would be most suitable for your desired character class as an Elementalist._

_After confirming your decisions with the game’s interface, you were immediately transported to another world, appearing before a quaint village. An icon appeared before you briefly, the name “Silvius” flashing for a moment before fading away. ‘Must be the town’s name,’ you reasoned. Simple wooden homes and stone buildings surrounded a cobblestone path ahead of you. You noticed a man in worn, simple attire pushing a wheelbarrow ahead of you._ _  
_

_“Excuse me, sir!” you called to him, and walked towards him as he stopped pushing his cart to look at you._

_“How may I help?” he asked in a kind tone, smiling. You noticed his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes._ _  
_

_“Sorry to bother you. I was hoping you could tell me where the marketplace is in this town?”_

_“The marketplace is just ahead, down this path. There are several shopkeepers. I’m sure they’ll have whatever you need,” he answered immediately, his vocal tone sounding slightly stiff._ _  
_

_“Oh, thank you,” you said, bowing your head, a little taken aback by his curt reply despite his warm greeting. The man smiled blankly, uttering “good day” before returning to his wheelbarrow, casually making his way down the cobblestone path. You stared after him with curiosity. “Must be an NPC.”_

_Shrugging off the awkward encounter, you started traveling down the cobblestone path, passing by the man with the wheelbarrow. As you passed by the lumber homes, you marveled at the details in their designs. They all looked relatively the same, but the texture of the wooden planks of the porches and the doors caught your interest. As you examined the woven wattle of the house’s panels, you felt as if you had stepped out of a time machine and into the medieval era that was dramatized on television. A light breeze caressed you, making you pause in your tracks with shock. How in the world could somebody program a sensation? It was your first time using the Animus Online gear, but its advanced technology made the Oculus Rift seem like something from the Stone Age.You quickly became giddy with excitement and an overwhelming urge to explore every corner of this realistic virtual world struck you like a lightning bolt._

_You began to sprint down the rest of the cobblestone path. “I even get tired here,” you panted out as you ran, feeling the familiar sensations of the strenuous activity throughout your legs and chest. You passed by more people and began to hear more noise, a sure sign that you were headed in the appropriate direction. Once within the market square, you widened your eyes as your senses were overwhelmed by the sights and sounds before you. You took in the image of the bustling market, filled with beings of many different races engaging in their own activities. Their appearances varied widely, as many players had seemingly opted for radical hair colors and physical attributes. You noticed the characteristic pointed ears of the Elf races, the menacing sharp tusks of the dark-skinned Orcs, and even the delicately ornate wings of Faeries._

_“This can’t be possible,” you gasped, trembling with awe. How could you feel like you were actually in a real physical world, rather than currently lying on your bed? Realizing that you hadn’t felt your ears yet, you quickly reached to tug on the pointed helix of your right ear. “Oh my goodness!”_

_“What can’t be possible?” a smug voice responded from behind you. You whirled around in surprise to face the owner of the familiar voice. “Eunhye!”_

_“That’s my name. Although my friends here call me Destiny,” she winked._

_You examined your best friend’s appearance, noticing that her usual straight and long black hair now was chin length and wildly tousled with subtle dark blue streaks. Her eyes, normally brown, were instead a bright blue hue. Her ears were not angled like yours were, leading you to the assumption that she must have picked a human race. The iron breastplate armor she was wearing looked polished and new. In contrast, her legs were completely covered in rusty iron grieves matched with tough, but ornate leather boots. Before you could comment on her interesting choice of armor coordination, she spoke again._

_“I’m a little disappointed about how easy it was to find you, [Y/N].” She examined you closely before continuing, “The purple eyes you chose almost threw me off. I see your hair is more tame-able in this place, though.”_

_You pursed your lips in fake annoyance as you reached towards your loose curls, thinking about your actual unruly hair, which almost quite literally had a will of its own. No amount of mousse or hair product would be able to force it to do your bidding. You normally opted to just tie it up, rather than to bother struggling with it every day. At least here, it would probably never be less than flawless. Or would it? Before you can continue down that train of thought, Eunhye continues to talk._ _  
_

_“Even if you looked completely different, I would be able to find you anyway,” she claimed proudly. You raised your eyebrow, willing her to explain. “It’s simple. I knew I had to look for the person oozing with newbie-ness. Just look at you! You’re wearing peasant clothes and you stumbled into the marketplace looking as if you’ve never seen people before.”_

_You rolled your eyes at her lame gamer colloquialism. You knew your clothes were unremarkable and generic at the moment, so her teases were not really effective. “And you, Destiny? What kind of fashion statement are you trying to make here?” you bit back with good humor, smirking as you watched her pout._

_“Look. I only started a day ago. This is the best stuff I could find so far,” she huffed, crossing her arms. “Which reminds me… we’re going to go dungeon crawling. We need to get you out of these frumpy clothes... and I need a better armor set. **And**  since we’re both broke at the moment, we’ll earn our items the old-fashioned way.”_

_“Well, what are we waiting for then?” you grinned, cracking your knuckles in anticipation._

* * *

While you are lost in your memories, a low growl rumbles to the side of the clearing, interrupting the peaceful atmosphere of the clearing. You spring up to your feet immediately, attempting to summon more elemental magic from your core. A warm flame manifests in your palm for a split second before it peters out in smoke. You become agitated as you find yourself unable to summon anymore magic. The large black figure of a menacing bear looms into the clearing. You take a step back, mentally sorting through your inventory. ‘Shit! I forgot to replenish my mana potions!’ you panic, shoving your hand into the moleskin pouch hanging off your waist. ‘It’s no use. I have to ru-‘

Your thoughts are interrupted by the sight of the black bear lunging itself into a sprint towards you. You summon a simple steel dagger from your inventory and roll away before the bear can maul you. Although you don’t have a very good grasp on offensive weapons, you had stored it into your inventory just in case. You hadn’t planned to use it before learning the basics better, but now there was no choice. As the bear turned and lunged towards you again, you attempt to dodge while slashing its body. Unfortunately, you miscalculate the amount of force it would take to attack with the weapon and leave the dagger lodged in its side as you roll away. 

‘Fucking brilliant,’ you curse inwardly, watching in horror as the beast bellows with rage in response to the sharp object embedded into its skin. It charges forward with renewed blood-lust and you take off immediately in the opposite direction. You fail to notice a tree root in your path and trip, landing on your hands and knees abruptly and painfully. The beast closes in the distance between you two. 

‘Well this is it. Hopefully the pain of death isn’t realistic as well.’ Your eyes tighten shut and your body stiffens as you wait for its claws to rip through your skin and send you to respawn in the nearest village. However, instead of feeling pain, you hear the  _schhwaff_  of a projectile cutting off the growl of your attacker. A loud thud directly behind you startles you from your tense position, and you immediately turn from your position on the ground to face the source of the noise. The bear was splayed across the ground with an arrow protruding from its head. You look up from the bear to see the form of another person across the clearing, grasping a drawn bow. Your eyes meet as the stranger disarms an arrow from his bow. 

“Are you alright?” A deep voice breaks the silence. Your eyes follow him as he walks across the clearing, his bow held loosely in his grip. Your eyes widen in surprise as his features are illuminated by the sunlight seeping through the canopies of tree. You notice the pointed tips of his ears as he draws closer. He reaches the shaded area where you were splayed out on the ground and squats beside you. You take in the sight of his warm brown eyes, framed delicately by soft, ground nutmeg hair. The tips of his bangs are of a deep green hue, as though he had dyed them with the leaves of the forest surrounding you.

“Hello?” 

You snap out of your daze and jerk back as he waves his hand in front of your eyes. “H-huh? Oh, I’m fine!”

“Are you sure? You seem a little out of it,” he asks, frowning with concern. He slides a canvas knapsack off of his shoulder and rummages through a pocket, keeping his eyes on you.

“Oh! Don’t worry! I was just shocked. I am fine, actually,” you sputter, sitting up immediately. You pat down your hair, feeling self-conscious, “I guess I should stop forgetting to restock on mana potions… that was a close one. Thank you so much. I definitely owe you one.”

He smiles in response. “I’m glad you’re not hurt.” He extends his hand in greeting and you return it with a handshake. “My name is V.”

“I’m [Y/N]. It’s nice to meet you, V.”

“Same here,” he grins, and offers his hand once more. You notice it contains a small piece of wrapped candy. “Here, you should have this. It might help you recover faster.”

You take it, smiling gratefully. As you unwrap it, you notice an item tag appear beside it. 

“  _‘Player-made’_  ?” you read out loud. “You can make food in this game?”

He looks at you with a questioning look. “Yeah. Are you a new player?”

You blush, avoiding his gaze for a moment. “To be honest, I only started playing two days ago. The marketplace was so crowded that I’ve kind of been avoiding it.”

He made a small noise of understanding as you examined the unwrapped chocolate in your palm. You bring it up to your nose, inhaling its scent deeply. “Wow. This smells just like chocolate.”

“This game is crazy realistic, right?” he grins, watching you as you plop it into your mouth. Your eyes pop open as the warm chocolate coats your taste buds. You inhale dramatically as you savor the taste, unable to stop the dreamy expression on your face. “This is just... I think I’ve found a new way to enjoy food without actually gaining weight.”

He laughs at your reaction, crinkling his eyes with amusement. 

“That was delicious. Did you make that yourself?” you press, enjoying his wide grin.

“Ah, no. Jin-hyung made it. He’s an amazing cook,” he responds. You wonder just how amazing cooked food could be in this game. You would normally imagine it couldn’t be similar to the real deal, but now you had some doubts. 

“Oh!” Taehyung exclaims abruptly, lifting his finger to press the empty air in front of him. A blank hologram appears in the space, filled with what you assumed were notifications that are imperceptible to you. “Ah, my bad! My friends are waiting for me back at the village,” he says, lifting himself from the ground. He offers you his hand to help you stand as well. “Want to come with me? I bet you’ll find them fun!”

You smile shyly at his offer. You normally avoided such interactions in the real world, but this is a different place and a different you. “Sure, let’s go then. But,” you add, “if anyone asks, I was totally not about to become a meal before you met me.”

V laughs in agreement, and the pair of you begin to run through the forest. You can’t help but feel disappointed that he doesn’t have any teleportation scrolls with him. Granted, those items were slightly on the pricier end, but your savior had seemed very skilled. Luckily for you, endurance worked a lot differently in-game than in real life. Running wasn’t too difficult in the game when you considered that you are really just lying down on a bed back at your dorm. However, any kind of physical activity in-game would still deplete your stamina bar.

“By the way,” you speak, attempting to keep a steady voice despite your depleting stamina, “What level are you?”

“I’m just level 8. I’ve only started recently, too. I think it’s been less than a week since my friends and I started,” he replies, and you notice his voice was beginning to seem shaky as well. You smile, feeling a little better that he is not leagues away in skill level. “How about you?”

“I’m level 6. Leveling up has been taking forever without a buddy. My friend has hardly logged on since the first day we played,” you pout. You see the village begin to materialize ahead of you and the distribution of trees becomes sparser as you run. 

“You’re welcome to tag along with my friends and I if you’d like to. We can level up together,” he replies cheerfully, looking at you. You nod appreciatively as the both of you speed up your trip. Perhaps it would be beneficial to begin to socialize and network rather than to continue to keep to yourself.

Finally, you reach the outskirts of the village as it fully materializes. He slows down his run until he is merely walking and you mirror his actions. “Geez. Now I wish I hadn’t wasted my teleportation scroll on that short trip yesterday. I’m beat.” He yawns, turning around the corner of the cobblestone pathway and leading you down a quaint street. 

There are several other people walking up and down the street with their own business at hand, some of whom had an NPC icon above their heads. You briefly remember your first encounter with an NPC, when you hadn’t realized that you need to focus on the space above an object or person to see details about them.

V slows his pace as you both reach the porch of a modest tavern. Worn barrels sit beside the sturdy wooden door of the tavern and a few planks of rough wood lay haphazardly off to the side. A large sign above the door catches your attention, displaying  _“Edgewood Tavern”_. He walks up the few steps of the porch and pulls open the door, holding it patiently as you walk into the tavern first. 

The sound of raucous laughter and the plucked notes of a string instrument fill your ears as your eyes roam throughout the establishment. You take in the sight of the warm earth tones of the tavern constructed almost entirely of lumber. Several weathered oak tables are spread across the tavern, many occupied by players and even NPCs. Behind the bar counter surrounded by worn stools stands a muscular human NPC, wiping a goblet clean with a tattered rag – an unhygienic practice that makes you cringe for a moment. Behind the counter, you notice a large deer mount on the wall. The deer’s head is bent slightly, its still, black eyes focused on you. Though it looks slightly creepy, you appreciate the attention to detail. “This place certainly looks bigger inside than it does outside,” you whisper to V, who nods in agreement and scans the tavern, looking around for his buddies.

A few notes from the string instrument seize your attention with a familiar tune. You raise your eyebrow, wondering if you were just imagining the similarities. 

“ _What do you mean? When you nod your head yes, but you wanna say no. What do you mean?_ ” a melodic, tenor voice fills the tavern, accompanied by the sound of ad libs and runs. 

You snort with laughter at the classical rendition of modern pop music disrupting the medieval atmosphere of the tavern. V lets out a hearty laugh and pulls you by your arm towards the source of the noise - three handsome males. Your laughter dies in your throat as you look upon their faces with widened eyes.

 ‘Gosh, does this boy only have handsome friends?’ you think to yourself, feeling slightly bashful now that you are in the presence of his friends.

The both of you watch as two guys, one with a lean body and scruffy black hair and a shorter one with scarlet orange hair and a muscular build dance playfully together. A sinewy, mahogany-haired male has his eyes shut, holding a rolled up scroll up to his mouth as he sings with great skill. Beside him, a male with blonde hair strums a lute, his full pink lips upturned with a charming smile as he watches the others dance.

A flute joins in, filling in the place of the familiar high-pitched synth of the original track. You hear someone nearby begin to beat-box in the background. You look around for the new sources of noise and spot two males seated to your right, looking on with amusement at the dancers while they participate in the performance. Your eyes are drawn toward the mint blue hair of the flutist, as well as the silvery-blue hair of the beat-boxer. Beside you, V rushes forward, adding his own soulful baritone to the music. 

You grin widely at the joyful scene before you. You never imagined you would ever be able to witness something so lively in a virtual world, and now that you were, you suddenly begin to feel greedy. Realizing that there had been something missing from your adventures so far due to Eunhye’s inability to play frequently, you feel yourself wanting to immerse yourself into this world with this exuberant bunch. 

As you are lost in thought, you notice that the boys are finishing the song. 

“Ya! V!” screams the black-haired male. “Why did you keep us waiting so long? We almost died from having to listen to that NPC play the same song over and over again!” 

The focus shifts towards a male NPC bound to a chair by his waist with his wrists tied to the armrests. A lute was lying on his lap. You notice the blank expression on his face while his hands and legs continuously wriggle around. You cover your face in disbelief and amusement, hardly able to stifle the giggles. 

“Wow, J-Hope-hyung,” V’s face erupts with laughter. “Did you do this? Doesn’t this count as assault against an NPC? I’m not paying your bounty when you get carted off by the guards. Not again.”

“Actually, it was all Jin-hyung,” J-Hope sniggers. 

The lute player scoffs playfully in response. “Don’t drag me into your childishness.”

“Actually, it was me,” the mahogany-haired singer pipes in, looking smug. “And no, I didn’t get any warnings, so it’s all good.”

“Kookie... you would,” V nods, looking convinced. 

“So where were you? Suga-hyung and Jimin were getting impatient. They almost left when that NPC bard wouldn’t shut up,” the silver-haired beat-boxer asked, walking up to the group alongside the mint-haired flutist.

You step forward before V can answer, coughing awkwardly as their gazes rest on you. “V saved my hide from being mauled by a bear while I was in Sapwood Forest. He shot an arrow right into its skull. It was pretty impressive.”

V looks at you with a boxy smile, “Guys, this is [Y/N]. She and I bonded over Jin’s amazing chocolate.”

You look at the lute player, grinning warmly. “It was amazing. I never thought in my life that I’d be able to eat something so delicious and not even have to worry about weight gain.”

The group laughs in agreement at your joke. “That’s actually a huge part of what we like so much about this game. All-you-can-eat, without all of the unpleasant side-effects,” winks the silvery-blue haired male. 

The guys stepped forward, introducing themselves one by one. You learned that Suga is the mint-haired flutist and that Jimin is the scarlet orange-haired dancer. 

Finally, the silvery-blue haired male steps forward to introduce himself.

“My name is RM. And the seven of us make up the newly formed Bangtan guild. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”


	2. The Spellsword

The sound of clattering wind chimes yanks you from your slumber. Your eyes squeeze shut as you turn over in your bed in protest. ‘Just five more minutes,’ you think stubbornly, willfully ignoring the soprano chimes originating from your cell phone.

“[Y/N]!” a screech from the other side of the room pierces your eardrums.

You emit a long groan and reluctantly turn towards the bedside table to reach for your phone. While rubbing the sleep out of your eyes, you read the algebraic problem presented by your math alarm.

_2 - (1 + 6) + 9 + 3 = ?_

“Turn that off this instant or you’ll be hearing wind chimes out of your ass until the doctors surgically remove your phone!”

Feeling a sense of desperation, you shove yourself under the blankets in an attempt to muffle the alarm. You struggle against your grogginess to solve the problem mentally and finally click “7”. The offending noise finally ceases and you sag into your bed with relief.  

“One of these days I’m going to kick you out,” your roommate growls. You sit up in your bed and look at her apologetically. If looks could kill, you would already be on your way to meet your maker.

“Sorry, Soobin,” you tell her and flinch as you watch her roll her eyes and fling her blankets over her face.

Generally, you and Soobin get along well. However, the two of you had been unable to work out class schedules that had her waking up before you. She was a much lighter sleeper, so the two of you had decided she had to be the person with the earlier schedule. A twist of cruel fate had decided that the two of you would not be able to coexist at 7 AM.

After forcing yourself out of your bed, you think about the events that had transpired the day before.

* * *

_“Bangtan? As in ‘bulletproof?’” you asked as you examine the apparent leader of the guild, RM. Something about his heavy, hooded eyes and the dimples on his cheeks rang a bell of familiarity in your head. Your eyebrows furrowed slightly as you wondered why._

_Perhaps mistaking your facial expression as confusion, RM gave you an easy smile and reached into a holster attached to his belt underneath his indigo tunic to retrieve a silver gun, which he then twirled skillfully in his hand. “Exactly. I’m the Guild Master.”_

_You nodded in understanding, a little wary of the gun until you remembered the village was a safe-zone from player on player violence. You allowed yourself to relax now that the members seemed receptive to meeting you._

_“Were you really being mauled by a bear? Was it a brown bear?” Jimin asked teasingly, eyes shining with mirth._

_“What? No! It was a black bear, for your information,” you huffed with indignation. Black bears were a level higher than normal brown bears, a distinction you found necessary to point out. “Not that it matters… I didn’t have any mana left to fight.”_

_“Mana?” J-Hope piped up, scrunching his eyebrows together, “You mean you can’t melee?”_

_Your eyes look away from the group, embarrassment tinging your cheeks with warmth. “Umm, no?”_

_“How can you go into the forest with no melee ability?!” exclaimed Kookie with disbelief. Your right eye twitched with annoyance in response._

_“Guys, don’t be so rude,” Jin interjects. “If she did so, she must be proficient with ranged magic.”_

_“She seemed a little skillful at dodging!” V added, smiling at you encouragingly._

_You shot a grateful look at Jin and V. “I’m no expert, but I have been practicing my elemental abilities since I started out this weekend. I just happened to run out of mana potions without realizing it and lingered around a little too long.”_

_“An Elementalist? None of us chose that class,” RM looked thoughtful for a second. “You know… if you hang out with us a little more, we might have a spot for you in our Guild.”_

_You looked at him, eyes shining with interest. You noticed the other members studying you carefully and nodding. V looked at you with a huge grin. You found it slightly amusing how he had gone from being a polite stranger to a cheerful boy in the presence of his fellow guild members._

_“You know, provided you don’t suck,” RM added with a smirk, interrupting your thoughts. Your smile weakened and you felt your eye twitch slightly. Something about the brusque jest tugged at your memory weakly._

_Shaking the thought aside, you puff up your chest with confidence at the challenge. “I may be fairly new to this game, but I can put up a fight,”_

_“We’ll have to see about that, then. Can you log on tomorrow?” the leader asked. You noticed his gun was still in his left hand, twirling with subtlety._

_“Yeah, sure. What do you have in mind?”_

_“Arena dueling.”_

* * *

You gulp, swallowing your nerves as you dress yourself. You had strayed away from the Arena for a reason. There was no way you were planning to jump into Arena battles until you had at least gained some more fighting experience. Watching the majority of Animus Online players be melee combat-based as an aspiring magic user was nerve wracking.

After slipping your feet into plain red Converse, you sling your backpack over your shoulder and leave the dorm, listening to Soobin’s loud snoring become muffled as you shut the door carefully. You tie your hair into your signature ponytail and reluctantly force your feet to take you to your class.

Later in the morning once your Biochemistry lecture ends, you trudge over to Anatomy and Physiology, dreading the upcoming task - a frog dissection. In the previous lab, you had been tasked with “dissecting” a potato. Rest assured, even the generally mature University atmosphere suffered from fits of giggles as your classmates attempted to make “medial incisions” on the vegetable. The task had greater success in making you hungry rather than in teaching you about anatomical planes.

Your stomach lurches as you walk into the lab room and notice the stiff frogs lying on metal pans next to several stainless steel dissection instruments. You quickly avert your eyes to avoid looking at the tiny creatures and instead look at the lab sheets on the counter-tops near the pans.

‘Looks like we had our partners chosen this time,’ you groan inwardly, walking down the aisles to look for your name. Finally, you find your lab sheet and sit down. With curiosity, you peer at the lab sheet beside yours and see the name “Park Jimin”. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a name you recognized. You weren’t even sure if this student was female or male.

You silently read the lab instructions on the sheet as you wait for the class to begin, trying to ignore the chemical fumes emanating from the dissection pan beside you. As you begin to wring your hands in anxiety, a masculine figure walks into your peripheral vision and pulls the stool away from the lab bench to take a seat. You turn your head to look at your assigned lab partner.

“Hey, partner,” he grins shyly, his long sleeves obscuring his small fingers as he waves. You feel a little nervous upon seeing his face, realizing that he is rather handsome. Your eyes are drawn to the neat arrangement of his dark brown hair and the long silver chain dangling from his neck. You shake off the obtrusive thought reminding you of the passage you had just finished reading in the procedure regarding the removal of loose jewelry and baggy clothing.

“Hi. Jimin, right?” you extend your hand as a greeting, suddenly self-conscious of your clammy palms. “I’m [Y/N].”

“Nice to meet you,” he smiles gently and takes your hand in his. You can’t help but admire the softness of his warm palm before he withdraws it. You return the sentiment with an awkward smile, wringing your hands once more in embarrassment about your sweaty palms.

Thankfully, you aren’t left wondering what to say for too long. Your lab instructor walks in and greets everyone. She explains the dissection process, insisting that every partner must make an effort to participate equally, much to your dismay. After offering her assistance if anybody requires it, she allows you to begin.

Your eyes flit over to Jimin briefly as you reach for the boxes of gloves and surgical masks above the counter-top. After offering them to Jimin, you extract a pair of gloves from the box and slip your hands into them as you attempt to shake away your unease.

“You alright?” Jimin asks, examining the look on your face after he goes straight for the scalpel.

“Err,” you mumble, while fumbling through your attempt to tie the disposable surgical mask to your face. “Animal dissections kind of make me sick.”

“Ahh,” he nods in understanding. “No problem, I’ll take care of it, and you can say you helped out. You can take the notes.”

After winking at you, an action that gives you even more butterflies in your stomach, he slides the tray closer towards the both of you. For the first time, you take a real look at the specimen. Its arms and legs are grotesquely contracted with stiffness. Before Jimin brings down his scalpel on its belly, you gently press his shoulder. He pauses and looks at you with a questioning expression.

“I think you’re supposed to pin its arms and legs to the dissection pan first,” you speak, pointing your finger gingerly in the direction of the metal pins inside the instrument kit.

He hums in agreement and grabs the pins. You attempt to not wretch as you listen to him attempting to unfold the frog’s limbs from their stiff positions. A soft crack makes you grimace in disgust.

“Sorry,” Jimin crinkles his eyes apologetically as he pushes the pins through the frog’s legs and into the firm foam of the dissection tray. After he finishes the gruesome task, he reoccupies the scalpel and begins to smoothly cut into the frog’s belly. You bite your lip as you reluctantly watch him cut the frog’s skin off with a pair of scissors, revealing the purple-gray muscles of the frog. Your eyes return quickly to your lab sheet and you scribble a description about the grotesque sight.

“Park Jimin,” a stern voice calls from behind you, startling you into dropping your pencil. You turn towards the voice and see your instructor frowning. “Why are you still wearing dangling jewelry?”

“Oh!” Jimin exclaims in surprise, placing his scalpel on the tray. “Sorry, I didn’t realize.”

“I’ll take care of that for you since I haven’t touched the frog,” you tell him as the instructor shakes her head in disbelief and walks away toward another group. 

He gives you a sheepish smile. “Alright,” he says as he rotates his stool to turn his back toward you. You stir into action and lean over toward him, feeling guilty for not remembering to warn him about the laboratory dress code. Your hands inch towards the back of his neck hesitantly, noticing the soft tufts of dark hair tapering off near the base.

“Do I have something on my neck?,” he teases in a low voice. 

“A-ah, no,” you sputter while blushing furiously, grateful for the coverage of the surgical mask. You carefully lift the chain from his neck and place it on the edge of the lab bench.

“Thanks,” he turns to look at you with a wink. You feel your cheeks heat up even more with mortification.

‘He can’t see me blushing. He can’t,’ you inwardly groan. You extend your palm toward the frog to take his attention off of you. He chuckles and retrieves the scalpel to continue with his prior incision into the abdomen of the frog.

‘I think I’m going to die,’ you squirm in your seat while screwing your eyes shut, willing the lab period to end as soon as possible.

 

* * *

After the horror-fest of Anatomy lab, you wander around the Arts building, wondering where the theater room is located. You had recently added Theater to your schedule after realizing you could easily fit an elective into your day. For some reason, you felt compelled to try Theater, even though you knew you were probably too shy to act well. Watching the dramas on TV had left you wondering what it would be like to be the main character in something for once. The prevalence of awkward female leads gave you hope that there was such a role befitting you.

You are so deeply invested in your thoughts that you fail to avoid bumping into a person in the hallway after turning around a corner of the hallway.

“I’m so sorry!” you apologize, stepping backwards as the girl looks up from her cell phone. Your frown deepens as you realize who you encountered.

“Ugh,” Hyuna rolls her eyes after she gives you a once-over. “Why are you here? I thought this was the one place your nerdy shoes would never tread.”

Your eye twitches in response as your mood shifts from guilt to annoyance. Bumping into Hyuna on campus always leaves you with a bitter taste in your mouth. You have no idea why, but the girl has had it in for you since your high school days. You had been the best of friends throughout elementary and middle school until her crowd of friends had suddenly changed. Ever since, the sweet girl you had known has been sour during every encounter you’ve had.

“Fancy seeing you here, too, Hyuna,” you state passively and start to walk down the hallway toward your classroom. She follows you quickly to walk beside you.

“Why do you always smell so bad? Usually you smell like nasty baby formula or vinegar, but now you smell like preservative,” she scrunches up her nose in disgust.

She knew damn well as a laboratory stockroom work-study that the reason you smelled like those things was because of your work as a biology research assistant. “I don’t know, maybe it’s you,” you retort, “Something’s gotta preserve that cold, dead heart inside of you.”

You quickly pick up your pace to leave her behind, smiling as you hear her curse behind you. At least your verbal parrying was always entertaining. Although it often hurts you to think about your damaged friendship, it comforts you to know that you are nobody’s pushover. 

You finally reach the classroom listed in your course schedule and walk inside. Looking around, you marvel at the sight of the interior of the black box theater. The dark walls are carefully lit with gentle white light. Along them, you see dark cameras, speakers, spotlights and black wires spanning across perimeter of the theater. A small, square stage sits at the center, surrounded by several rows of cushioned chairs on all four sides. There are several students seated already, chatting amongst themselves. As you wonder where to sit, you feel somebody shove past you. Your eyes narrow as they follow Hyuna, who smooths her short skirt on her way take a seat beside her chatty friends.

‘Definitely not sitting over there,’ you purse your lips as you head toward a different section.

* * *

After enduring the not-so-furtive glances and giggles pointed toward your direction during the theater lecture, you are glad to finally leave and finish getting your work prepared for the next day in the comfort of your dorm. As you pack your notes into your backpack, you glance at the virtual reality headset for Animus Online sitting on your desk. The electrodes connected to the headset peer at you from under the curve of the headset.

You sigh in defeat, walking up to your desk to lift it from the desk. You sit on your bed and lower it on your head, making sure it is strapped on properly. After lying on your back, you press the power button located on the temple of the device.

As the devices manipulates your consciousness, you feel yourself materialize inside the tavern you had been in before you logged off, but now it seems uncharacteristically quiet despite the chatter of the players lounging around. You laugh out loud when you notice the bard from yesterday in the same exact spot the Bangtan guild had left him. Apparently nobody had any complaints about the arrangement. You almost feel bad for him, until you remind yourself that he is just an assortment of pixels and programs.

Chuckling, you open your user interface to look at your friend list. You feel a little disappointed when you see that all seven members of the guild are already online. Despite the time you had to mentally prepare yourself, you still feel apprehensive about jumping into the unfamiliar territory of the Arena. If they insisted that you had to participate, you would definitely raise a stink.

Before you can open a messaging window, a message window appears in your interface.

**J-Hope: [Y/N]! RapMon says you should take the carriage to Proelium! It’ll be faster. We’re already in the Arena so hurrrrryyyyyy!**

**You: Coming!**

You rush out of the tavern and run toward the marketplace nearby to restock on potions and supplies. When you finish, you run out of the village toward the horse stables. You pay the carriage driver with several gold coins and jump into the carriage.

As the carriage starts down the path toward Proelium, you stare at your limp gold pouch pitifully. It had not fared well after the heavy amount of purchases. Ten minutes of game play and you are already broke. As you wonder whether it is possible to file for unemployment in-game as an adventurer, the carriage draws to a stop in front of a magnificent marble gate spanning the entire perimeter of the city.

You walk past a masked guard clad in heavy armor and pass the gate, marveling at the sophisticatedly paved roads and large buildings. You note the similarities of the city’s layout to the layout of ancient Roman cities you had read about in history class. The sidewalks were cushioned between the paved road and buildings, so narrow that they were almost nonexistent, and gave the city a very crowded atmosphere.

You open your user interface to view your city map. Now that you were no longer a newbie, you realize that you did not have to ask around for directions every time you went somewhere new. You set a location marker on the Arena and close your interface window. A blue arrow suddenly appears in your field of vision to point you toward the location of the Arena.

When you finally reach the Arena coliseum and walk through its gates, you are astonished by the sudden outpour of thousands of chants. You open your messaging window as you walk up the stairs to enter the spectator seating area.

**You: How in the world am I supposed to find you guys here?**

When you reach the top of the stairs, you are able to see the entire level of seats around you, as well as the upper levels across the arena. You notice silver icons flashing to your right. For some reason you had forgotten that friends were denoted by silver icons. Your mind wanders toward Eunhye accusingly before you shake the thought away.

**You: Oh nvm. Found you.**

You run across the aisles to meet the guys, who are whooping loudly and standing on their seats. At the edge furthest from you is Suga, next to Jin and Kookie. V and J-Hope are beside them jumping excitedly. You noticed that RM and Jimin are nowhere to be seen.

“Hey guys!” you exclaim over the noise, gaining the attention of J-Hope and V.

“[Y/N]!” they shout, sporting wild grins. J-Hope, who is closest to you, steps off his seat to gently pull you into the one beside him.

“No,” V pouts, grabbing your hand. You redden from the sudden physical contact by the two males. “Move J-Hope. She’s next to me.”

“Fine, I didn’t wanna sit next to you anyway!” jests J-Hope as digs his fist into V’s shoulder. He flashes you a grin as he allows you to switch seats with him.

“What’s going on? Where are RM and Jimin?” you ask, fighting to keep the color away from your cheeks as you find yourself sandwiched between J-Hope and V.

“Look!” V exclaims as he points toward the center of the Arena. You see silver and orange walk towards each other from opposite sides of the Arena. “You’re just in time to watch them duel.”

Your eyes widen in surprise as you lean forward, feeling excitement build in your stomach. This would be the first time you watch the Bangtan members fight.

After a horn is blown to signify the beginning of the match, the orange-haired male darts around to avoid the onslaught of gunshots aimed toward him. Jimin skillfully weaves his way toward the silver-haired RM, whose bullets are somehow blocked by his drawn sword. You notice that the bullets that ricochet off the blade cause it to spark brightly. As Jimin reaches RM, he raises his sword and brings it down with force, intending to end the match with a decisive victory.

You gasp when the force of Jimin’s sword creates a loud clang as it is blocked by RM’s weapon arm.

“No worries. RM wears some strong bracers underneath his tunic,” J-Hope reassures you, pulling the collar of his black laced tunic aside to display the chainmail armor underneath. “We’re all protected.”

You nod in understanding and quickly return your gaze to the dueling pair. RM appears to be cornered, his gun held firmly and he struggles against Jimin’s strength. You notice his hand snaking into his waistband as he holds the younger male at bay. You barely have time to widen your eyes before RM whips out a second gun with his left hand and fires it into Jimin from a foot away. Jimin stumbles backward from the impact, barely able to keep his sword in hand as he uses his other hand to clutch his wounded stomach.

“That sneaky hyung,” says V beside you, a tone of awe coloring his voice. “He didn’t tell us he could dual wield his guns now.” The rest of the members shout in surprise at the turn of events and you notice with amusement from the corner of your eye that someone’s popcorn spills out of their lap as they jump out of their seats.

Intent on maintaining his element of surprise, RM fires at him again using both guns. Jimin yelps in pain as the bullets tear through his tunic, spraying the air with red. He snaps out of his surprised state and begins to run around RM, removing a sturdy metal shield from his back to protect himself from the doubled gunfire. As he runs, you notice that his form glows brightly for a few seconds. You realize that he must be activating his health potions behind his shield. While Jimin is circling him, RM quickly reloads his ammunition as he keeps his eyes on his nimble opponent.

You watch as Jimin stops in his tracks and points his sword at RM, who is occupied with reloading his second gun. A burst of light blue magic bursts forth from his sword and strikes the gunslinger, who is thrown back by the impact and falls to the ground. One of his guns and several of his bullets clatter to the ground.

“You’ve got to be kidding me! Are they just doing this to show off their hidden skills?” exclaims Kookie from two seats away.

Jimin rushes forward recklessly, abandoning his long-range strategy in favor of old-fashioned melee. His shield clatters to the ground as he raises his sword with both hands, angling it downwards to pin RM to the ground. Before his sword can finish its descent, the silver-haired male rolls to the side and aims his gun at the spellsword, who cannot avoid plunging his sword into the ground.

“Bad move, Jiminie,” he teases as he unleashes his gunfire onto Jimin. The orange-haired male releases his hold on the sword as the bullets rip through his body with light sprays of red, jerking his body backwards with each gunshot. A  loud horn is heard throughout the Arena, signifying that the match has been concluded.

Jimin drops onto his knees beside his embedded sword, his head lowered in defeat. RM struggles to get up for a moment and limps over to Jimin, dropping his gun on the ground. A small vial appears in his hand, which he then pours down Jimin’s throat after carefully lifting his head. The younger male’s body glows brightly with light for a couple of seconds. RM extends his hand to his guild member, who accepts it and uses the support to stand up and steady himself.

You divert your focus from the duelers to look at the other guild members with astonishment. You normally like to think long-range fighters could hold their own against melee fighters, but presently had not considered yourself up to the task. Seeing the match conclude in the favor of a long-range fighter certainly renewed your fervor for proving yourself.

Most of the Bangtan members whoop loudly with excitement while jumping on their chairs. You notice with a giggle that a huge pile of popcorn is scattered underneath Jin’s seat and the empty seats nearby.

“Geez,” drawls Suga at the other end of the aisle in amusement. “When did these rascals have time to develop these special skills? They’re holding out on us.”

“At this rate nobody is going to need my skills,” cries J-Hope dramatically, clutching your arm.

You aren’t sure how to respond because you don’t know what he is capable of, so you pat his shoulder sympathetically. “Don’t worry, I’m sure you’re just as important to the guild.”

He beams at you in response, making your cheeks tinge with pink slightly. You had never seen someone with such a radiant smile, not even V. You return his smile with your own and quickly turn away to hide your blush, subsequently meeting V’s gaze, who is looking at the two of you with a pout. Before he can say anything, you hear the other boys start shouting loudly once more.

The three of you turn around to see RM and Jimin join the group, both looking worn out, but satisfied. You join the small crowd of excited males to interact with the pair.

“Jimin, you’re bleeding! Why didn’t you use that shield in the first place?” you exclaim when you see the bullet holes torn through his brown leather tunic, which was stained darkly with dry blood.

He smiles kindly and shakes his head, “Don’t worry, you only bleed briefly in this game. It’s mostly just for show. It is nowhere as painful as it seems.”

You frown, not quite believing his claim. You turn slightly to examine RM beside him. His indigo tunic is marred by a large scorch mark spanning his entire abdomen. You are surprised when Jin reaches forward to lift his tunic and chainmail armor to reveal pink, blemished skin.

“Hey! Jin-hyung, don’t do that here!” RM protests and attempts to step away until Jimin’s hands clamp down on his shoulders.

“I’m sorry, Monie, but you have magic burns,” Jin says sternly, placing his palm over the leader’s abdomen. His hand glows with bright light, resembling the effect of healing potions. When he removes his hand, RM’s skin appears unmarked. The silver-haired male quickly pulls his shirt down to cover his bare skin, fighting away a blush. You can’t help but grin at the site of the confident leader suddenly appearing bashful.

When Jin makes eye contact with Jimin, the orange-haired male quickly steps away, waving him off. “I already healed myself, thanks.”

Jin nods. “I think that’s enough Arena dueling for today.”

“What?! We just got here though!” Kookie protests boldly. Jin looks at him with disbelief, crossing his arms. The other members roll their eyes at his impudence. 

“Err… sorry, hyung,” he grins with cheekiness.  His behavior causes you to wonder if the mahogany-haired boy is the youngest of the guild.

Having recovered from his exposure, RM speaks in a low, ominous tone. “I’m sure [Y/N] is curious to see what we have in store for her.”

“I am  _not_  going to fight down there,” you vehemently insist. After watching the carnage of the last match, you are absolutely certain you wouldn’t be able to hold your own against any of the members.

RM shook with laughter. “Wait, you thought we were going to make you fight in the Arena? Do we seem that horrible to you?”

Your ears burn with embarassment. “W-well what else was I supposed to think?”

He shakes his head, still laughing. “Come with me,” he says, his fingers grazing your shoulder as he walks past you. You fold your shoulder inwardly to avoid his touch, feeling slightly humiliated. You huff and turn pointedly to follow after him.

* * *

You watch warily as the orange-haired male weaves across the training grounds with prowess, cutting the air gracefully with his sword. The two of you are supposed to train together in front of the members, but it appears that Jimin is taking this as an opportunity to show off his nimble swordsmanship. The display is impressive and quite intimidating, but you are beginning to feel irritated by his inability to take your fight seriously.

Silently, you charge your palms with a cold frost, turning the air frigid around your hands. You watch Jimin carefully as he spins with the sword playfully, silently calculating his position. Without hesitation, you fling your palms upward and join them, forcing your magic to construct an icy projectile. Before Jimin can react to your sudden action, he is impaled by an icy spear and nearly drops his sword from the impact.

“[Y/N]!” you hear V shout in surprise. You smirk when you realize this is the first time he (and of course, the other members) have seen your offensive tactics.

Before Jin can rush forward to intervene, the spear bursts away into bright particles, leaving a large hole in his tunic to accompany RapMon’s bullet holes. Jimin gets up slowly, stumbling in shock as he clutches his stomach.

“What was that?” he asks with widened eyes.

Before you can answer with a sarcastic “Magic”, he runs out of your sight so quickly that he seems to disappear and slashes at you with his sword. Your eyes water with pain as you feel heat across your back for a split second.

“You sneaky little shit!” you growl, turning to catch him with a burst of flames from your palms. Jimin reflexively covers his face with his arms as he shrieks, jumping backwards to avoid the lick of angry flames.  Your eyes gleam with satisfaction as you notice that they match his hair in color. Unwilling to take any more chances, you cast a defense ward on yourself.

Jimin circles around you, all traces of playfulness now absent from his expression. You smile and charge your ward with lightning, daring him to approach. Seeing your silent challenge, he smirks and runs toward you. You watch in confusion, preparing to dodge in case he decides to cross your ward.

Just before he reaches the lightning barrier, he pulls the metal shield from his back and flings it at you. Your breath is knocked out of you as the shield slams into your stomach. The electric ward dissipates into tiny sparks due to your diverted focus. Jimin rushes forward to slash you with his sword. You force your feet to move and barely manage to dodge his blade. You conjure an ice ward as he slashes at you again and jump backwards to avoid the shatter of ice when he breaks through it with ease.

Slightly panicked, you check your mana reserves, which are now nearly empty. You shove your hand into the pouch on your belt and retrieve a vial of mana potion. Before you can drink it, he rushes forward and knocks it cleanly out of your hand with his sword and quickly positions the blade against your neck.

You gulp slowly, feeling the cool blade grazing your skin.

“I think I know what your issue is, now,” he says thoughtfully, lowering his sword. You lower your hands in surrender as he voices his thoughts aloud. “Considering what V said about how he met you and what I’ve seen from this spar, it seems that you don’t have any way of physically defending yourself.”

You scrunch your eyebrows together and pout. “What? My wards protect me just fine!”

He prods your sternum firmly with his free hand and smirks. “Sure, but when you run out of mana do you think your opponent will patiently wait for you to drink that potion?”

Your face turns hot with indignation at his comment and his daring physical contact. Although he is relatively short, standing at a similar height to you, he still manages to make you flustered with his tousled sunset hair, slicked with sweat around his face. “I-I guess not,” you grumble, stumbling backward with your arms crossed.

“We’re going to have to work on building up that stamina of yours as well,” he winks, taking a step closer. You waver, nearly passing out from the implication of his tone. “See, you’re so winded already and we’ve only just started.”

“Jimin, that’s enough!” V whines, rushing forward from the sidelines to shove him away from you. The rest of the members follow behind him. “We can work on your physical tactics together, [Y/N]. Don’t worry!”

“You’re not even a melee fighter, V. Let’s train together, [Y/N]! I can teach you how to avoid hits in the first place,” J-Hope interjects cheerfully.

“I can teach you how to win with brute force,” Kookie asserts, touting his large iron Warhammer with pride. Your eyes widen at the thought of even trying to hold that thing.

“Pssh, whatever! Just take your pick from whoever is online tomorrow,” Jimin suggests, boldly ruffling the maknae’s hair, much to his visible displeasure as he quickly steps away.

“Yeah,” you agree shyly, biting softly into the inside of your bottom lip as you meet the friendly eyes of the guild members around you. “I think I will.”


	3. The Acrobat

After your last class of the day, you walk through the crowds of students gathered in the commons, who are engaging in a variety of activities ranging from learning to goofing off. On your way to your university’s learning center, you pass by several whiteboards that are either filled entirely with content or in the process of being filled by anxious students.

As you travel up the flight of stairs, you mentally run through the material you are supposed to cover during your tutoring session. You had unfortunately had several irresponsible mentors throughout your undergraduate career and are not very keen on the idea of showing up unprepared to a tutoring session that you are in charge of leading.

While lost in thought, your foot catches on the last step, causing you to lose your balance. Before you can fall down, your hands grasp the railing on the side of the stairs. You sigh with relief as the moment of danger passes. Unfortunately, you have been accustomed to gravity requesting your undivided attention at inopportune times, but at least it was somewhat rare to make the full trip.

Smoothing your blouse self-consciously, you continue toward the learning center. As you enter, you scan the room, wondering if you will see any familiar faces as tutors.

You spot Kim Taehyung, a former classmate from freshman biology, huddling among a group of guys. You had gotten along well with him during your first year of university, but had chosen a different major, so you hadn’t seen him around much after that year. Sometimes you would see him outside around campus with his notebook, leaning over flowery bushes and examining colonies of ants. He would sometimes be too engrossed in his writing and sketching that he would often miss your greetings for him as you walked by.

You approach the laughing quartet, wearing a pleasant smile on your face.

“Come on, guys! I didn’t fail out of biology last year, stop saying that!” one of the guys with soft light-brown hair insists while playfully shoving another boy, whom you recognize as Park Jimin from your Anatomy and Physiology class.

“Maybe you didn’t fail, but you didn’t finish the class,” teases a younger boy with black hair.

The light-brown haired male sighs with exasperation. “None of you took Professor Moon. He seemed to think that was the only class we were taking.”

As Taehyung pats his friend’s back with sympathy, he spots you approaching the group. “Hey [Y/N]! I didn’t know you were a tutor, too.”

You smile mischievously and respond, “What makes you think I’m a tutor?”

His facial expression morphs into one of confusion. “Are you a student then?” he asks with a bemused tone of voice.

You snort with amusement, “No, Taehyung-ssi. I’m a tutor.” It never fails to amuse you how air-headed the brunet could be at times.

“Right! Why would you take General Biology three years later?” he laughs while scratching his head sheepishly. His friends join him in his laughter, and the black-haired boy playfully punches his shoulder.

“Taehyung-ah lives in a different world sometimes,” he chuckles as Taehyung swats his hand away.

“I may have noticed,” you grin in response as you reach for the clipboard in the center table of the room. You look for your list of students and notice that you have four. Taehyung follows you and reads the list over your shoulder.

“What? Why did I not get assigned to any of my friends?” he complains behind you.

“That might be a good thing, you know. Can’t be having too much fun,” you smile sympathetically as you make your way to an empty table. You clear your throat and project your voice, “Alright guys! If you’re in [Y/N]’s group, make your way over here, please! That means Jeon Jungkook, Jung Hoseok, Park Jimin, and Shin Mina!”

The three guys who were hanging around Taehyung make their way over to your table. You shoot a bewildered look at Taehyung, who looks at you from across the room with a pout. You give him a sheepish grin and a small wave before turning to the males settling into their chairs.

“Right, so… I’m [Y/N],” you smile awkwardly. “How about you guys? I do believe I’m acquainted with Park Jimin-ssi.”

Jimin gives you a warm smile accompanied by a wink, reminding you of the horrid dissection episode of the day before. You make an exaggerated shudder, earning a laugh from him while the rest of the males look on with confusion.

“He saved me from having to touch a dead frog,” you explain, rubbing your neck with embarrassment. “It’s not my first dissection or anything, but I hate doing them.”

The group barks with laughter. “A Biology major hating dissections!” the black-haired male exclaims while slapping his own thigh.

You feel warmth staining your cheeks as you sputter, “W-well anyway! Let’s finish introducing ourselves! Where’s Shin Mina anyway?”

“I’m Jungkook. I’m a first year,” says the young black-haired male, once his laughter subsides. “And I haven’t seen Shin Mina since the first day of class. Maybe she dropped.”

The light-brown haired male pipes in cheerfully. “I’m Hoseok! I’m a third-year sports science major.”

“Oh? We’re in the same year?” you ask, curiosity brimming. Many non-Biology majors usually opted to take General Biology sooner, rather than later. 

His smile falls slightly. “I had Professor Moon,” he offers hesitantly.

“Say no more. I know exactly how Professor Moon is. He’s scared a lot of first years out of the Biology program with his teaching methods,” you sympathize, picking up on his insecurity about the matter through his tone of voice. The full smile returns, wrinkling the corners of eyes. The feeling is inexplicable, but you feel the need to make sure it stays there.

You smile as you stand up, uncapping a marker to write out the first problem involving a diagram of the mitochondria. “Alright guys, I guess we’ll get started since Shin Mina may not be joining us after all. Did you guys work on the assignment for this session?”

Your question is met with silence. You turn around with confusion. “You guys worked on it, right?”

Jungkook bursts into a quiet fit of coughing before stretching his back as the others stare intently at their presumably blank worksheets.

“Jungkook-ssi? Can you tell me where glycolysis occurs?” you ask, raising your eyebrow slightly.

His eyes widen as the rest of the group focuses on him. “Right, umm… outside the cell… right?”

You nod with approval and turn to Park Jimin. “Which is called?”

“The cytosol,” he answers confidently.

You smile and turn to Jung Hoseok, “Can you tell me one thing that does take place inside the mitochondria?”

His fingers twist the pen in his hand restlessly. “The….citric acid cycle?” he replies hesitantly, his eyebrows furrowed. 

Nodding in satisfaction, you sweep your gaze across the table to look at each member of the group. “See, you guys know this stuff. Let’s make sure we work on some of it before our tutoring session, though. Is that alright?”

The trio grins sheepishly in their chairs and nod, postures loosening.

“Let’s work on the assignment on your own for a few minutes and then we’ll go over it together,” you smile patiently and turn back to the board to write more problems.

* * *

As you push the elevator button, you hear a familiar voice behind you. “[Y/N]-sunbae! Do you mind if I ask you something?”

You turn to make eye contact with the speaker, Hoseok. “Sure thing! What were you curious about?”

He clears his throat, suddenly wringing his hands. “I was just wondering what the best way to study is. Professor Moon traumatized me with his ‘word-for-word’ method of grading. It really wasn’t working out for me.”

You hum in understanding and nod reassuringly, “I can see why that would give you some trouble. To be honest that doesn’t seem to me like the best way to learn anything. You should read the material closely enough to be able to explain the content in your own words. Trying to memorize someone else’s words seems too superficial.”

Hoseok’s expression eases as you speak. The two of you step into the elevator as the door opens. “Then, do you know if Professor Bang is that way?” he asks as he presses his floor destination after you.

“Definitely not. In fact, he hates rote memorization. You should ask your friends if you can try explaining concepts to them. If you have no problem with that, you should be all set.”

His shoulders sag with relief as he absorbs your words. “Thanks, [Y/N]-sunbae.”

The elevator door opens to reveal your floor. You stretch your hand outwards in order to keep the door open. “No problem! If you ever need any help, feel free to call me. I’m sure you all got my email with my contact info. And by the way, you can just call me [Y/N]. I’m not your sunbae, anyway.”

His lips twist into a sunny grin and he lifts his hand to wave. “Alright thanks, [Y/N]! See you around!”

* * *

After completing the final problem on your physics homework, you stuff your journals back into your bag and shove your writing implements back into a desk drawer. You snatch the headset sitting on the corner of the desk and jump into bed.

“Back into nerd land, I see,” Soobin teases you as you strap the device over your head.

“You have your Netflix binging, I have this,” you glance at her, sticking your tongue out playfully. She rolls her eyes and returns her focus back to the drama on her tablet.

Once your headset is properly fitted onto your head and obscuring your eyesight with darkness, you press the button on its surface and watch as the city of Proelium materializes before you. You look around the busy city, noticing masses of players running past you in every direction while NPCs walk by leisurely.

‘I’m feeling the urge to explore this new area,’ you smile enthusiastically, opening your friend list with hopes of seeing Eunhye online. Your smile falters when you realize that Eunhye still hasn’t logged in since the last time you had played together. Your eyes float up to read the only active name on your friend list, J-Hope. You select his name to send him a message. Before you can type anything out, you are beaten to the punch.

**J-Hope: Hey [Y/N]! What’s up?**

**You: Not much. I just finished class work, how about you?**

**J-Hope: Same here! I was just having the urge to explore the forest and see what type of stuff is nearby. Would you like to practice some new skills with me?**

**You: Yeah, let’s go! Race you to the front gates?**

**J-Hope: You’re on!**

You quickly clear away your messaging window and take off, sprinting toward the main gates that you had entered for the first time yesterday. While attempting to maneuver around crowds of people, your foot catches on the bricks of an elevated sidewalk, causing you to land on the concrete face-first. Luckily, your arms absorb the impact and prevent your face from doing the same. Your health bar takes a minor hit, but the impact is barely felt.

“What the hell,” you groan while stumbling onto your feet as you reflexively dust your laced brown leather pants. Ignoring the attention you gain from the nearby players, you continue your run toward the main gate. As you approach the wide gate doors, you notice J-Hope’s form already resting beside the stationed soldiers.

“No!” you cry out, slowing down your run until you’re walking dejectedly toward J-Hope. “I tried so hard, too.”

J-Hope bursts out laughing, the corner of his eyes crinkling. “You didn’t even ask where I was! I was already nearby.”

You huff angrily and stomp past him, passing the front gates outside of the city.

“Wait! [Y/N]!” he exclaims frantically. You smile as he chases behind you. “Don’t be angry! It was only a joke!”

You stop abruptly in your tracks, causing him to bump into you.

“[Y/N]…?” he asks quietly, walking around you to look into your face. As he stops beside you, you quickly reach out to tap his shoulder and take off running before yelling, “Tag, you’re it!”

You hear him sputter behind you in astonishment as you run into the forest. An icon identifying the area as “Latebra Forest” flashes across your vision. The crunching of leaves under the feet of you and your pursuer livens the tranquil ambience of the forest. As you admire the chorus of birds in the calm forest, you feel something rip through your robe, pinning you to a tree.

“J-Hope!” you screech, moving quickly to dislodge the throwing knife that had pierced your mage robe from the tree trunk. You look behind you to see him walking leisurely toward your position, twirling a dagger in his hand.

“Lesson 1: Dodging attacks,” he smiles cheerfully. He inspects your torn robe carefully. “I can see why you’d wanna fill the trope of a mage by wearing that robe. But wouldn’t you rather ditch the robe for something more practical?”

“My robes are practical,” you argue. “They’re enchanted robes! They give me extra elemental damage.”

“Well that’s great. But I think you’d have an easier time avoiding damage if you don’t give your enemies better chances of catching you,” he voices his concern.

You purse your lips before humming in reluctant agreement. After unhooking the clasp holding the robe together, you lift it away from your shoulders, revealing a white ruffled blouse with a brown under-bust corset. “I suppose I can figure out how to enchant my shirt.”

“You certainly have a sense of fashion,” J-Hope compliments you easily after appraising your outfit. You blush and thank him before attempting to hand back his throwing knife.

“Oh no, keep that. We should work on teaching you how to make use of it,” he smiles, leading you into a forest clearing. You grip the dagger with uncertainty as he turns around to face you.

“Can’t we start out with, like, sticks first?” you ask nervously, eyeing the sharp end of the dagger. You weren’t very keen on the idea of stabbing or being stabbed, despite the fact that this was all virtual reality. Pain was very muted during this game, but it still existed all the same.

He barks with laughter. “We’ll be fine, no worries,” he reassured you warmly.

You nod hesitantly and drop into a fighting stance, holding the dagger awkwardly in your fist. J-Hope looks at your posture with curiosity. “What are you doing?” he asks after a moment of silence.

“I’m getting into a fighting stance, of course.”

“You’re not distributing your weight properly. And you’re bent too low. You would have a hard time fighting someone off like that,” he explains.

You attempt to adjust your fighting stance as he carefully instructs you on adapting a better posture.

“Hm, you’re not quite achieving the right stance,” he says as he walks closer.

“Can you help me? I’m pretty uncoordinated,” you groan, eyes flashing at him imploringly.

He drops into a low crouch and places a gentle hand on your left foot to spread your legs apart, guiding the foot away from your other foot. Your breath hitches slightly as his hands rest on your knees, pushing them slightly to heighten your crouch. He rises from his crouch to adjust your grip on your dagger. Finally, he places his hands on your shoulders. 

You make eye contact with him as he pushes your body back slightly to correct your posture. If this had been real life, you would have been able to see the delicate peach fuzz on his face. His eyes widen as he realizes his proximity to you.

“S-sorry!” he exclaims, stepping back quickly to put some space between you. You notice his cheeks begin to redden, likely resembling yours.

“That’s okay. So this is a proper fighting stance?” you ask quickly, eager to change the subject.

He quickly nods and laughs shortly while rubbing the back of his neck. “With that position, you should be able to choose quickly between fight or flight. Ensuring mobility is your best choice, either way.”

You nod, consciously attempting to commit your new stance to memory. You watch as he returns to his original position a few meters away from you.

“This may sound counter-intuitive, but keep your gaze unfocused rather than solely paying attention to where the attacker’s hands are. You’ll be able to pick up on their movements as a whole, and may even be able to find patterns in their attacks.”

With that said, he lunges forward toward you, wielding his dagger in front of him. He is faster than you realize, leaving you little time to stumble backward to avoid the swipe of silver arcing toward you. As he lunges forward to slash at you again, you stumble over something on the forest floor, falling flat on your back. Instead of stopping to allow you to reorient yourself, you are surprised to see his weapon arc toward your position on the ground. You roll away from the attack with little time to spare and quickly pick yourself up from the ground to avoid his oncoming attacks. You find yourself employing the same ineffective tactic of lunging backward as he slashes his dagger against you.

He suddenly stops attacking, a look of concern marring his face. “[Y/N], why do you keep trying to move backward? Your opponent will always have the advantage over you if they’re moving forward. You’ll probably end up on your back again, too.”

You stare at him, panting heavily from the loss of stamina that had been spent to avoid his assault. You nod breathlessly, understanding the error of your strategy. It appears you aren’t the best at thinking under pressure, especially while employing unfamiliar tactics. Grimacing slightly, you internally berate yourself for falling into the same attacking habits and not thinking to expand your repertoire of skills.

Appearing to pick up on your self-chastisement, his facial expression softens with a warm smile. “You seem light on your feet, so I think you can take advantage of that. Just make sure your movements are to your advantage. Dodging is fine, but you should employ offensive tactics to disorient your attacker. Otherwise, you’ll tire yourself out by only dodging and rolling out of the way.”

You grunt in agreement, your face contorting to express concentration as you fall back into your fighting stance. He smiles and copies the gesture.

Only a couple of seconds pass as he lunges at you again, slashing his dagger horizontally. You dodge by dropping to a low crouch, and quickly use your forearm to shove his weapon arm farther away from you as you rise back up. Immediately, you slash at his side with the opening you made.

“I was hoping you’d make that type of counter move,” he grins, barely blinking an eye despite the light spray of blood that results from your attack.

Before you can apologize for harming him, J-Hope attacks you again. You lunge backward, then attempt to strike back as you regain your balance. He parries your attempted blows with his dagger. Suddenly, he reaches forward with his other hand, grabbing your wrist. Before you can make a decision, he pulls on your wrist, bringing you toward him as he buries his dagger inside your stomach with a short, upward curve.

Before your health points can decline considerably, he withdraws the dagger, stepping back slightly.

“Sorry, [Y/N],” he apologizes, holding his dagger away from you as the stains of red fade off of its surface. “You parry well, but you can’t keep trying the same thing or your enemy will catch on. If they attempt to use your body against you, you should try to rein back your control.”

You nod as your hand drops to your stomach in shock, feeling the wound but not the appropriate level of pain that you would have imagined would accompany it. “How should I do that?” you ask, eager to learn more now that you realize how minimal pain inflicted could be in-game.

He smiles in response to your question, reaching forward to grasp the wrist that holds your dagger. He held his dagger low with his left hand, mimicking the same scenario before he had plunged it into your belly. “What do you think should be your next move?” he asks. “I’ll attack on 3.”

He begins counting steadily as your brow sweats from contemplating your next movement. You watch his weapon arm carefully, readying yourself for your tactic. As soon as his voice calls out “three” and his dagger curves toward you, you lunge to his right, using his own power in pulling you forward to move directly beside him. You kick backward at his knees, forcing him off balance and causing his grip on your wrist to loosen enough to allow you to pull it away. You grasp his hair as you rotate to face his back directly, and hold your dagger against his throat.

He chuckles, “That was well executed!”

Before you can even smile at his comment, he pushes away your hand wielding the dagger to his throat, grabbing your wrist as he twists in place to face you, ignoring your pull on his hair. He quickly hooks his foot around the back of your knee, knocking your legs off balance. He pushes your chest back, throwing you and himself to the ground. As you both fall, he quickly grabs your hand as you lose your grip on his hair. After landing on his knees on both sides of your body, he pins both of your hands to the ground above your head.

You stare at him with utter bewilderment. “Did you- Did you really just do that?”

“Have I mentioned that I’m in charge of the subterfuge in this guild?” he smiles innocently above you as you merely lie there gaping. How could this sunny boy be the trickster of the group? For some reason, you had seen that as most likely being the maknae’s role. Before you can register that his knees are pinning your hips in place and subsequently become flustered, the pressure of one of his knees lifts as he maneuvers himself to stand upright. He maintains his hold on your hands to patiently help you stand as well.

“I think that’s enough for now,” J-Hope states cheerfully, rubbing his side where your dagger had slashed him. “You gave me a nice fight.”

You blush at his praise, believing that he was probably only trying to make you feel better about your crummy melee skills. Before you can open your mouth to protest, he extends an extended palm out toward you as a cookie materializes in his hand.

“Here! We both took damage, so let’s restore our health. Jin’s creations are very powerful,” he offers genially. With a thanks, you take the cookie and begin to eat it, immediately feeling the healing effects of the item as you savor the sweet taste.

“Jin’s cooking skill is no joke,” you agree as he wolfs down his own cookie. He closes his eyes blissfully for a moment in agreement. You take this brief moment to admire the innocuous expression on his face. It was still difficult for you to grasp the idea that he could be sneaky. You suppose that must be the reason that he’s so good at it in the first place.

When he opens his eyes, he looks upon your eyes with an adventurous shine in his eyes. “Let’s see what kind of hidden places there are in this forest.”

As you travel through the forest, you and J-Hope are quietly giggling about a story involving V and a ladybug fairy outfit.

“That’s something I definitely need to s-“ your amused commentary is cut off when he grabs the back of your blouse and pulls you backward forcefully. Your squeal is muffled by his hand as you stumble backward against him. Ahead of you, where your feet were about step, was a thin rope stretched across the path.

“Sorry, [Y/N],” he whispers quietly into your ear before releasing you. “It seems we might be unwanted company here.”

You scan the forest, wondering what is awaiting you nearby. “Wanna explore?” you whisper, your eyes glittering with the prospect of a new experience in the game. Next to J-Hope, you feel confident that you can tackle whatever lies ahead.

“That’s the spirit,” J-Hope whispers with glee, squeezing your shoulder as he walks carefully ahead of you, avoiding the trap. “I guess we’re having another lesson. Sneaking.”

The pair of you walk carefully survey the nearby area, careful to make as little noise as possible. Somehow, J-Hope’s steps hardly make a rustle while yours cause the fallen leaves and soil to crunch. With each step you take, you grimace about your novice level Sneaking ability. You bite your bottom lip hard in order to refrain from from sighing in exasperation.

Suddenly, you hear voices ahead. Both of you quietly seek the cover of the thick trees as you approach the source of noise. A pair of bandits with NPC markers above their heads are lounging around a small campfire, cooking a rabbit on a spit. They drink from their tankards leisurely, laughing amongst themselves.

“And then he begged me to leave his girl alone. What a wuss!” one of the burly bandits guffaws with amusement.

“What’d ya do then?” the other bandit slurs curiously.

“I took my Warhammer and crushed his pathetic little-“ his voice is suddenly cut off by an astonished grunt as a throwing knife pierces his skull.

“Huh?” the other bandit grunts with confusion, rising from his seated position to withdraw a mace. Before he can step forward to search for the assailants, a frigid ice spear buries itself into his chest, knocking him to the ground. The frosty feeling on your palms subsides a second later.

“Now that’s what I call a sneak attack,” J-Hope grins, twirling a throwing knife with his finger. The two of you then make your way across the campsite toward the fallen bandits.

“Doesn’t it bother you when you kill them? They look like people after all,” you ask carefully as you look at their gored bodies. You could hardly believe you had followed his lead by attacking in an equally brutal way. 

“Think about it this way: if you don’t kill them, they’ll attack you until they kill you. And besides, it’s not like they’re really dying. They’ll respawn back here eventually,” he reassures you as he walks up to the bandit he had killed.

Just yesterday, you had been sick to your stomach from just watching a frog dissection. While your brain could separate the mild gore of this virtual world from reality, it was still disturbing to witness the realism of blood spatter. 

 “I suppose I just need to get used to the blood,” you say as you kneel beside the body of the bandit impaled by your spear to examine his loot. To your relief, the blood around the fatal wound was beginning to fade away. 

As J-Hope kneels to check his victim’s items, you scan the campsite for any interesting items. “Aren’t these guys supposed to have some sort of loot stash? I don’t see anything here.”

“They probably have a hideout nearby. Are you in the mood for an infiltration mission?” he asks as he stands up, leaving the bodies to slowly begin disappearing.

“Do you think we can handle it by ourselves?” you ask, somewhat hesitant to agree. Although these two kills had gone easily, you are sure it would be different if the two of you took the fight to whichever enclosed space the rest of the bandits were using as a hideout.

“You’d be surprised how productive we can be if we stick to the shadows,” he asserts confidently, smiling at you before striding across the campsite to search for an entrance. You follow closely behind him, your hands poised in front of you in preparation for an attack.

As you move toward a rocky formation covered in dark moss, a small wall of text appears in your vision announcing the presence of a found location, “Apsterritum”. J-Hope moves toward the blanket of vines covering the mossy wall and sweeps them to the side to reveal a crudely built wooden door.

You both quietly enter the den of thieves, making your way deeper into the rocky cave. You can’t help but wrinkle your nose at the dank mossy smell of the cave overwhelming your senses. It would have been difficult to make your way down the narrow cavern had it not been for the lit torches hung along the wall.

J-Hope prods you to stop as you reach a forked path. You hear him whisper “vita revelo”, causing his hand to glow a dim white for half a second. With the help of his spell, you are suddenly able to see glowing outlines of the human NPC’s past the walls of the cave to your right.

His feet hardly make a noise as he takes the right path. You gulp as you allow him to take the lead, suddenly feeling anxious. You had only gone into abandoned caves with Eunhye when the only inhabitants were wild animals such as wolves. Although you knew these inhabitants are bandit NPC characters, you feel somewhat nervous about encountering a new type of enemy. 

Honestly, you hadn’t been expecting to kill the thief at the campsite with your ice spear in one shot. The thought allows your tense shoulders to gradually relax. Perhaps these NPCs would not be too challenging after all.

You soon approach a small cave chamber where the closest NPC is located. You watch as the male NPC works intently with his back to you at an alchemist’s station, grinding herbs with a mortar and pestle.

J-Hope turns to you and whispers quietly, “When I give you the signal you should copy my movements.”

He turns away from you and begins to tread quietly into the chamber, sticking close to the unlit areas of the cave. His footsteps are impeccably silent as his form blends in perfectly with the shadows.

You watch anxiously as the NPC continues working on a potion, unaware of J-Hope sneaking behind him. Moments later, you hold your breath as J-Hope positions himself directly behind him. Before the NPC can sense his presence behind him, J-Hope covers his mouth with one hand and uses the other to slice his neck. You hold in a horrified gasp as the arterial spray coats the surface of the wall and the alchemist’s station. Gritting your teeth, you watch J-Hope carefully lower the NPC’s body onto the ground along the dark shadows of the cave.

He scans the cave chamber to check on the other NPC standing at the other edge of the chamber before looking at you and nodding. Your eyes flit over to the blood-stained areas, which have already begun to lose their deep red pigmentation.

Shaking your head to remind yourself to focus, you carefully step out into the chamber and stick to the darkness along the edge. The NPC is leisurely pacing across the cave, unaware of your presence and you hope to keep it that way. You cringe at the sound of the soft grinding of pebbles under your shoes as you step across the chamber toward J-Hope. Finally, you reach the spot where the alchemist’s station lies unoccupied and now unstained.

“Not bad,” he whispers as he looks at the NPC, who has turned away from you. “Do you think you want to try it yourself?”

You shake your head nervously. “My sneaking skill is very low. I doubt I’d make it all the way up to him,” you whisper. There was no way you were going to perform such a clean kill. Part of you wonders whether you are currently in a party with a member from the Assassin’s Guild.

He grins with understanding as he twirls his dagger. Instead of repeating his earlier tactics, he throws his dagger at the NPC, impaling his skull. His body crumples to the ground. Your eyes widen at the effective display of skill.

You follow him as he walks quietly across the small chamber to cross into the next narrow pathway. The distant glowing silhouettes of NPCs become larger as you travel deeper into the cave. Your fists tighten as you count how many NPCs appear to be in close proximity to each other. You most likely would not have it as easy this time.

J-Hope stops before reaching the end of the path. “It will be hard to carry out a sneak attack with five bandits near each other. So we need to be quick.”

You nod with agreement and follow him as he continues down the rocky cave path. You are able to see a group of three bandits huddled around each other, appearing to be having a conversation amongst themselves. The other two bandits in the vicinity appear to be speaking to each other near the end of the chamber.

J-Hope turns to look at you and quietly draws your attention to the three throwing knives in his hand. You nod with understanding and begin to concentrate your magic in your palms, feeling the air turn brisk around your hands.

J-Hope breaks the tension first as he sneaks quietly into the cave chamber and flings a well-aimed dagger at a bandit facing the path that you had just come out of. You quickly aim your hand at the bandit with his back to you and fire an ice spear you had formed with your mana. As your spear impales the bandit’s chest, another of J-Hope’s daggers finds its mark within the third bandit’s skull.

By now, the other two NPCs near the other edge of the chamber had noticed the attacks and were withdrawing their weapons. J-Hope’s next dagger is thrown too late and clatters against the shield of one of the bandits before falling uselessly to the ground.

You run quietly along the dark corners of the cave chamber as their attention is drawn to J-Hope. Missing your next attack would just not do, and the easiest way to avoid it would be to take advantage of their distraction. As you watch the shielded bandit slash at J-Hope, who nimbly avoids his blade, you fail to notice the faint shine of circular steel on the ground.

“Ahh! Shit!” you involuntarily scream in pain as you step directly into a bear trap. The other bandit who had been pursuing J-Hope turns his attention toward you. He begins running toward you, wielding a heavy mace. With no time to disarm the trap, you shoot a fireball at the bandit. The attack causes him to stumble for a few seconds before he continues running toward you, mace held high in preparation for a powerful attack. You shoot multiple fireballs at the NPC in desperation, not wanting to feel the blunt force of the mace anywhere on your body. After being hit by the third fireball, he falls to the ground, his mace hitting the ground with a low clang.

However, you have little time to sigh in relief as you notice the glowing silhouettes of more NPCs running into the cave chamber. You count at least six bandits before they split into two groups to go after both you and J-Hope.

A fireball is thrown toward you, which you narrowly manage to block by casting a spell ward. You crouch to disarm the bear trap as you maintain your spell ward. You feel a bead of sweat roll down your forehead as a barrage of fireballs beats against your ward. After a long moment, you manage to free your leg from the trap.

As soon as you dispel your ward, you dodge the oncoming fireball and run across the cave to avoid being cornered. You extend your hand and unleash a chain of lightning at the female mage, effectively sapping away a small amount of her mana reserves. You quickly charge your mana into both of your hands and hold them together to release a lightning bolt at her. The attack is strong enough to cause damage to the other two bandits beside her.

Before the bandits can close the distance between you, you withdraw a mana potion and quickly consume it. After flinging the bottle aside, you continue firing lightning bolts at the female mage, who grunts with frustration. She abandons her fire assault to withdraw a small dagger and runs toward you. Before she can reach you, you discharge another chain of lightning, hitting her square in the chest. She emits a low grunt as she collapses to the ground.

You shoot flames out of your palm to incinerate the other two bandits as you briskly walk across the cave chamber. One of the bandits, appearing to have had taken enough elemental damage, drops to his knees and topples over. The other holds his ground, gripping his sword in preparation for an attack. The last of your mana reserves is consumed, causing your flames to die out as embers from your palm.

You quickly withdraw the dagger J-Hope had gifted you earlier and block a strike from his sword. As he withdraws it to strike again, you dodge to the side and slash at his side with the dagger. He turns to face you and slashes at you again, which you dodge once more. You use the opportunity to make multiple slashes in his arm. As he raises his sword above his head, a dagger plunges into his chest, disrupting his power attack. You move out of the way as the NPC crashes to the ground once the sharp object is removed from his body.

You turn around to see J-Hope looking bedraggled and breathing heavily as he exchanges his fighting stance for a more relaxed stance.

“Thanks,” you smile tiredly as you walk toward him. “That had to have been all of them, right?”

“Yeah,” he says quietly. As he looks around the chamber for more silhouettes, you notice the slashes across his shirt. “Looks like that was all of them.”

“I’m sorry,” you frown at the sight of the tears in his clothes. “You seem to have taken quite a beating thanks to my clumsiness. I didn’t see that bear trap and it caught me by surprise.”

J-Hope smiles brightly in response, standing straighter as if to reassure you. “Don’t worry, it looks like we made it out of that problem just fine. At least now we don’t have to keep sneaking around.”

He nudges you warmly and walks toward the bandits he had killed. You sigh, relieved that he isn’t upset about your blunder. It seems that you can’t escape your clumsiness, even in virtual reality.

“I knew it. I knew this guy was the chief,” he mutters, gesturing at the body of the bandit who had blocked his dagger with a metal shield. “Look how much gold he had on him.”

You whistle appreciatively at the large pouch of gold he withdrew from the body. You walk toward the female mage, wondering how she had held up for so long. Compared to the other bandits, she had had a much higher resistance against your elemental attacks. You kneel beside her body and look at her items. Among her inventory, you find several health and mana potions, as well as a decently sized lump of gold coins. You notice she had an unused enchanting stone in her possession.

“Nice!” You stand up quickly, holding the iridescent stone in your palm for J-Hope to see. “I’ve been wanting one of these, but they’re really expensive!”

“Now you can enchant your shirt so you can stop wearing that bulky robe,” he grins with amusement.

As soon as you finish looking through the inventories of the other NPCs, you scavenge around the chamber for additional items. You spot a small chest lying near a table.

“J-Hope! Is that the loot for this dungeon?” you exclaim with excitement. He looks up from a drawer he had been examining and walks toward the chest beside you.

“I doubt it,” he says as he withdraws a lockpick from his inventory and begins working on opening the lock. “There’s still more to this cave. The strong NPCs came out from the next passageway.”

The lock made a quiet click. “See, that was too easy to be the main loot,” J-Hope told you as he props open the chest.

You peer over his shoulder to look through its contents. Several different types of potions, a small sword with a scabbard, and a medium-sized pouch of gold were lying inside the chest.

“Ah! Here, you should put this into use,” he smiles as he takes the short sword encased in the scabbard out of the chest and hands it to you.

You gape as you examine the warm brown leather of the scabbard. Eagerly, you unsheathe the sword and drop into a fighting stance, holding the sword like the last enemy you had fought. You slash at empty air playfully, enjoying the feeling of power of the blade. J-Hope stands up and begins to walk to the next passageway.

“Careful, or we’ll end up with another spellsword ,” J-Hope laughs with amusement, watching your antics as you follow him.

“Ha, funny! I could never be as nimble of a swordsman as Jimin,” you stick your tongue out playfully. “Do you know how many accidents I’ve had today?”

“You’re right. You’d probably end up stabbing yourself instead of your enemy,” he guffaws.

“Careful!” You smirk and point your sword at him. “You’re at my mercy. Keep walking or you get the pointy end.”

“It’s not like I can get any other end. You’ll just end up hurting yourself,” he raises his hand lazily with disregard, not bothering to look at you.

You gasp with exaggeration in response to the snub. “Is that cheek? Now you’re really going to be talking to my blade.”

He snorts as you both walk into the next chamber. “You’ve really let this victory go to your head. Don’t forget that I dealt the killing blow.”

“Pfft. In case you didn’t realize, I didn’t need any help. That punk was about to get it,” you puff up your chest and shove past J-Hope. You pout as you hear him giggling behind you.

Within the large chamber, you find several makeshift beds and bed rolls, along with a collection of unlocked chests holding small weapons and several articles of clothing, as well as small lumps of gold.

As J-Hope occupies himself by going through the locked chests in the room, you walk down the chamber. You spot another passage near the edge of the cave. Unlike the rest of the cave, this section of the cave is not lit by torches. The pitch darkness of the passageway fills you with apprehension. You pause for a second, looking back toward J-Hope, who is too busy rifling through chests to notice. 

You light a small flame with your palm and walk into the passage. The sudden light reflects off of a several dozen pair of small eyes on the ceiling staring at you with curiosity.

“Agh! J-Hope!” you yell, stumbling backward in shock. Several dark bats leave their perches on the ceiling and fly past your head, whipping your hair back as they agitate the air around you.

“What’s wro-“ J-Hope asks with concern before he is interrupted by the migration of the bats. “Oh!”

You manage to hear his footsteps on gravel as he reaches you. “Are you alright?”

You nod, suddenly feeling silly for raising a commotion over some flying rats. He chuckles quietly and squeezes your shoulder in reassurance as he walks past you.

Your nostrils flare at the patronizing treatment, but before you can open your mouth to give him a snarky comment he interrupts your train of thought.

“[Y/N]! I found the main chest! And other stuff!” he exclaims loudly.

You sprint after him, running into a dark room. Spotting an unlit torch stand, you use your fiery palm to light it before scanning the small area eagerly. A large chest, unlike the others you had seen within the cave, is located in the center of the room.

But what had truly caught your attention was the enormous pile of gold coins beside it. You silently walk up to the pile, turn around and drop onto it with a sigh.

“ ‘ Other stuff’ indeed,” you murmur with delight, closing your eyes as you rest on the small mountain of gold. “Let’s do this again, J-Hope.”


	4. The Bard

As you walk down the corridor toward the black box theater, you notice a familiar figure standing in front of the door, flanked by two of her companions. You groan inwardly when you realize that the figures are Hyuna and her glittery cronies. Swallowing your annoyance, you morph your face to look nonchalant as you approach them.

You give them a once-over, quietly juxtaposing their tight blouses, short skirts, and ostentatious heels to your plain band t-shirt, dark skinny jeans, and worn out canvas shoes. Their pale, skinny arms are crossed, displaying their professionally manicured nails, adorned in several variations of pastel.

“You’re still here?” snaps Hyuna, her glossed lip curling with contempt. Before you can say anything in response, her face lights up with an expression that you recognize as her “I’ve-got-a-sick-burn” face. “Oh I get it. [Y/N]’s here to teach the class.”

Neither you nor her mindless familiars have any idea where she is going with this, as made evident by their conflicted facial expressions. On one hand, they’d like to sneer along with Hyuna – but like you, they don’t appear to have any idea what Hyuna is talking about.

Hyuna sneers as she watches your silent confusion. “[Y/N] has gotten so good at acting like a backstabbing bitch in sheep’s clothing that she’s qualified to teach theater at this point.”

You stare at her with disbelief. How could you be a backstabber when she was the one who cut you off when you had been close friends for years as children? Now she was a bully who criticizes you every chance she gets. As far as you knew, the worst thing you had done to her was accidentally smash her mom’s vase when you tripped at her house. While the incident was not your proudest moment, you don’t believe it warrants such vicious backlash from your former best friend.

You know you should just ignore her baseless taunts, but you can’t help yourself. “Aren’t you guys too old to be bullies? High school ended quite a while ago.”

Unwilling to stand around parrying insults with the girl, you shove past them and walk into the black box theater.

The last time you had met Hyuna, you had felt the urge to drop the class. Arguing with the infuriating girl was not really a favorite pastime for you, despite what she appeared to think when she relentlessly sought to get a rise out of you. You knew dismissing her would only encourage her, but while you were too tired to deal with her, you were reluctant to allow her to have the last word.

Immature? Yes.

But you had run out of ways of figuring out how to deal with your former best friend. Attempting to have a civil discussion with her had been unsuccessful, leaving you with only bitter memories of a friendship that had crashed and burned for seemingly no reason at all.

Shaking your head, you set your anger aside silently as you make your way toward the seat you had chosen the other day. As you sit down, you see Hyuna rewarding you with a scathing glare as she sits among a small crowd of people.

You resist the urge to roll your eyes and simply look away, eyes resting on the small stage in front of you. For a while you allow your eyes to glaze over as you wait for the professor to show up and begin the class.

Movement in front of you breaks you out of your daze and you notice a tall, slim male with chocolate brown hair. He turns to walk through an aisle nearby and you notice his full lips and a flawless complexion. He smiles as he catches your eye and moves to sit in the row behind you.

You shift in your seat, growing uncomfortable as the minutes pass. As you take your phone out of your bag to check the time, a door opens to admit the professor, who strides confidently into the small theater, carefully holding a black hat upside down.

“Hello all,” he smiles pleasantly, “Hopefully you have been settling into your schedules with no issue. After Monday’s lecture, I was thinking we could do something a little more interactive.”

You lean forward in your seat slightly, intrigued. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to meet some new people, and hopefully make new acquaintances. You weren’t keen on allowing Hyuna to be the only person you knew in the room forever.

“And so, I decided it would be nice to see your improvisation skills. In this hat, I placed different scenarios. I’d like you to get into groups of two and pick one scenario. Then I will give you a few minutes to discuss your plans.”

After he finishes speaking, the professor steps aside to allow the students to come forward. As the majority of the class stands up after selecting their partners quickly, you redden as you realize you are partner-less. Suddenly, you remember the young man who had seated himself behind you.

You turn around in your seat and give him a sheepish look. “Wanna be partners?”

He looks around the room before answering, much to your dismay. He smiles and stands up. “Sure.”

Your anguished expression must have shown quite clearly, because when you stand up he leans in slightly. “Sorry, I’m not actually a student,” he explains. “My name is Kim Seokjin.”

You return his smile, feeling relieved that he wasn’t intentionally trying to avoid being your partner. “My name is [Y/N]. Nice to meet you. If you aren’t a student, then why are you sitting in, if I may ask?”

As you both walk down the stairs toward the stage, he turns to look at you kindly. “I’m doing my observation hours. For a teaching degree.”

You hum in understanding, feeling a little reassured now that you knew that at least one of you knew what you were doing. When you reach the hat with him, you look at him questioningly. He nods at you to signal that you should pick the scenario. You reach into the hat and pick out a random sliver of paper. As you walk back to your seats together, you read the scenario out loud.

“A horror scene.”

You shoot him a wide-eyed glance. “Um,” you mutter nervously, “I’m about as menacing as an irritated hamster.”

As you sit next to each other, he glances at you with amusement, “Don’t some hamsters eat each other?”

He chuckles at your befuddled expression. “Don’t worry, I think I can make a convincing villain. What should we do? Something supernatural? Vampires? Werewolves?”

You give him a funny look. “You might look a little strange pretending to be a werewolf. I can’t imagine anyone pulling that off with no costume.”

“You dare underestimate my skills?” he asks with an easy smile. “Anyway, I agree. A werewolf scenario might look funny if I’m pretending to be a threatening hairy creature while I look so handsome.”

You stare at him with amusement. It’s not like he is wrong, but you silently wonder if he is anything like the men in Hyuna’s crowd – handsome and arrogant. You figure he seems good-natured enough to be given the benefit of the doubt. Most of Hyuna’s crowd often treated you like a village peasant, but you figured that was at least partly due to your frayed relationship with Hyuna.

“So…. A vampire scene then?” you ask carefully. Suddenly, a thought occurs to you that makes you flush with embarrassment. “Wouldn’t that be kind of…intimate?”

Seokjin studies you carefully as he thinks. “I’ll keep the physical contact to a minimum. All you have to do is look terrified,” he says, reassuring you with a smile.

You allow yourself to relax a little. After discussing your scenario together for a little longer, you are interrupted by your professor.

“Alright, I assume you’ve all had a sufficient amount of time to figure something out? Let us begin.”

The professor then proceeded to call out the various scenarios he had prepared for the class. Some were quite normal, if not random – scenarios involving customer service, educational setting, and engaging in a recreational activity.

Much to the chagrin of everyone watching, one scenario prompting a very flustered Hyuna and one of her doll-faced sidekicks to muddle through the situation of “providing customer service to an exceptionally irate customer”. Apparently, while Hyuna was gifted at acting demanding and livid (surprise, surprise), neither her nor her friend were particularly talented at improvising a convincing scenario.

“WHY,” she belts before pausing, looking as angry and stiff as she could manage – you couldn’t help but note similarities between her expression and that of a constipated pufferfish – “IS THERE NO KETCHUP ON MY FRIES?”

Nothing could prevent the barely contained sniggers that erupted from the audience.

Her friend looks just as flustered, clearly unsure of where to steer the scenario. “But Ma’am…. There is a ketchup bottle right there,” she stutters nervously, pointing at empty space near a seated Hyuna.

Hyuna momentarily broke character, looking as though she was trying hard not to break a sweat as she glanced at the professor before snapping her gaze back to the other girl. “I specifically said that I wished to have ketchup on these fries when I ordered!”

The other girl twitches uncomfortably before raising her hands in front of her chest in order to pretend she was flipping through a small notebook. “I didn’t write that in my notebook. I’m s-sorry, ma’am.”

“Get me fries WITH ketchup this instant!” Hyuna screams, banging her fist on the table.

The girl cowers. At this point you were fairly sure it wasn’t acting – Hyuna genuinely looked frightening, her face puce with unfettered rage.

“Y-yes, ma’am,” the other girl bows meekly before scurrying off quickly.

Your shoulders were wracking with silent laughter as you hunched over in the seat. What were they even doing during the planning time? Discussing make-up tips? It was beyond ridiculous to imagine anybody having such a violent reaction about missing ketchup on their fries. One look at Seokjin told you that he wholeheartedly agrees, covering his mouth with one hand as he giggles.

“Well then,” the professor spoke, clearing his throat after the giggles subsided. “That was certainly…dramatic.”  

The next few scenarios were also interesting, albeit in a different manner. The scenarios took a more serious tone, involving themes such as ghosts, police arrest, and a dramatic western stand-off. Some of the students managed to make their scenarios more lighthearted – the pair with the ghost scenario decided to conduct a séance to summon Moaning Myrtle, who promptly scolded the other person through the medium.

“Why did you have Mexican food, Harry?” the medium wailed. Several of the audience members began to choke with laughter. “You clogged my toilet!”

Finally, after a mixed bag of serious and jovial scenarios, the professor calls out your scenario.

“A horror scene! I am looking forward to seeing what this scenario has inspired,” the easygoing man smiles, scanning the crowd of students.

You cast a quick, nervous glance at Seokjin as you both stand from your seats. He gives you an encouraging smile, instantly putting you at ease after a soft flutter in your stomach settles, replaced by a subdued warmth.

You take your places on the small stage, facing each other.

“I can’t do this anymore,” you choke out, looking at him with what you hope is your best pained frown.

Seokjin’s expression turns icy. “This isn’t about your  _human_ boyfriend, is it?”

“N-no,” you stutter nervously. You feel a pang of real tension. His cold expression seems so convincing.

“Don’t lie to me,” he growls, taking a step closer. There’s a short pause, and the anger on his face dissipates. Instead, only a dangerous calm remains just below the surface as his head tilts slightly. “I’ve seen the way you look at him. He is a weak human. He will never be able to give you what you really need.”

“I don’t need anything from a bloodsucker!” you yell angrily, turning on your heel.

Before you can take a couple of steps, you feel a tug on both of your wrists. You hear him take a step closer until he is close enough for you to feel his body warmth. Your eyes widen and you allow yourself to visibly shiver as he lowers his head to your neck.

“I will never allow anybody else to have you,” he says quietly, but loudly enough for the audience to hear. You feel his head shift quickly jerk and he blows on your neck quietly, signaling you to gasp with shock. From the audience’s perspective, it would be easy to imagine that he is sucking your blood, although the only physical contact between you is through your wrists.

He lets go and moves his head from your shoulder, prompting you to stumble away from him. You clutch the area of your neck where he blow air.

“What have you done?” you cry out, trembling until your knees seemingly give out from under you. You slump onto the ground dramatically. Abandoning your sense of self-preservation for the moment, you writhe violently on the stage for a few seconds before going deathly still.

A few quiet seconds pass by before claps begin. You pick yourself up from the ground with Jin’s help in order to give a quick bow.

“Thank you that performance. Just the right amount of tension, I believe,” the professor praises the pair of you.

After thanking him, you both make your way back to your seats.

“That was brilliant,” you whisper to Seokjin. “You’re talented.”

He flashes you a sweet smile, “You did an excellent job yourself, [Y/N].”

* * *

“That was the biggest spider I’ve ever seen in my life! Good thing I don’t have arachnophobia,” Eunhye exclaims, running into the Proelium gates as you follow closely behind.

You silently agree with her sentiments. During your latest dungeon-run with her, you had soon discovered that the entire place was crawling with insects, especially spiders.

Dog-sized spiders.

And one massive spider that was about as tall as you and wider than you and Eunhye combined.

When you had caught your first glimpse of the thing, you were sorely tempted to turn around and walk out of the cave, but you were not given much of a choice when your best friend charged in recklessly, wielding her two-handed axe.

If there was anything you had learned about your friend, it was that she had almost no sense of self-preservation in-game. Which was strange, considering her aspirations of becoming a doctor. But you supposed it was down to two sides of the same coin of being a protector.

“Come on, [Y/N]! We need to stop looking like newbies! Let’s go shopping,” she insists, grabbing your forearm to pull you toward the market district.

“Alright, alright,” you sigh with exasperation. This girl had enough enthusiasm for the two of you. “Hold your horses. We ran all the way here.”

The two of you weave through the thick throngs of people clustered around various display carts filled with a variety of wares. A store of brick and lime mortar captures your attention as you walk by, displaying “Enchantment Emporium” in cursive script.

“Hey Eunhye!” you exclaim, grabbing her attention. She stops in her tracks and turns to look at you. You point to the storefront. “I’m gonna go in there. Want to come with?”

“Are you kidding? Enchanting stones and enchanted equipment cost a fortune. I’ll meet you after I go to the Armorer, alright?” Eunhye winked, flashing you a bright grin as she ran off.

You sigh. Sometimes you wondered how that girl found all of her excess energy despite her heavy course load. Shaking your head as you stare at her retreating figure, you turn to walk into the store.

The first thing you notice about the store is how dark, yet gleaming it is. The ambience replicated that of a dank, dark dungeon. However, the shimmering properties of several types of equipment resting on shelves and inside cabinets catch your eye. A range of glowing colors surround each piece of equipment, offering hints of the types of enchantment they represent. Various display cases throughout the small enclosure exhibit brilliant, iridescent stones of various sizes and shapes. An enchantment workshop is situated at the corner.

As you make your way toward the enchanting bench, the NPC storeowner gives you a generic greeting. You barely hear the door swing open behind you as you stand at the bench, staring at the runes engraved on the stone mantle.

“What now?” you mutter quietly, looking at the unfamiliar markings on the bench, which are arranged in a circular pattern.

You unequip your white blouse and brown corset ensemble by replacing it with the generic light brown tunic you had begun the game with. You place the ensemble carefully on top of the circular rune pattern. You retrieve the enchanting stone you had found the day before from your inventory, and run your thumb over its smooth surface as you examine the enchanting bench.

“Do you need some help?” a deep baritone voice from behind you startles you, almost causing you to lose your grip on the stone.

You whip your head to the side as a tall, sandy-haired man moves to stand beside you. Your eyes graze over his strong jaw, high cheekbones, and rose pink eyes with a subtle metallic glint.

He smiles carefully, his eyes wrinkling slightly at the corners. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“I-It’s okay!” you insist, feeling slightly embarrassed about your lack of situational awareness. “Actually, I might need some help. How can I put the strongest elemental damage enchantment on this clothing?”

“Place your stone here,” the man pointed at a single rune above the covered circular rune pattern. After following his instruction, a small holographic menu appears, showing you the various types of enchantments that can be placed on your outfit.

“Oh!” you exclaim with excitement. “I can do even better and use a Fortify Elemental Damage enchantment that is combined with Mana Regeneration.”

You select the option to add the combined enchantments and watch with fascination as ethereal wisps of magic begin to escape from the stone and attach themselves to the fabric. White tendrils soon envelope the entire clothing article, imbuing it with the assigned enchantment. As the transfer of magic concludes, the glowing tendrils thin out and dissipate.

You pick up the clothing item, noticing a soft white glow clinging to the fabric surface, similarly to the enchantment of the robes J-Hope had advised you to ditch. You equip the enhanced ensemble with a feeling of satisfaction and grasp the spent enchanting stone from the workbench. Predictably, the surface of the stone no longer glows, its magic having been spent to power your blouse.

“Thanks for the help!” you exclaim, whirling around to face the helpful player. Your eyes rest upon empty space. Frowning, you scan the store for sandy-haired man, who appears to have vanished.

Shrugging to yourself, you walk toward the storeowner.

“Your enchantment has been paid for by another player,” the NPC states when you reach his counter.

“What?” you blink with confusion.

“The player has chosen to leave a gift note,” the NPC continues, placing a piece of parchment on the counter.

You pick up the parchment and read the note.

“For a lovely rose.”

Blushing, you suddenly feel weak-kneed about the generosity of the mysterious player. A frown quickly takes over your face when you realize you never learned his name.

Without hesitation, you bolt out of the store, eager to find the charitable stranger. Unfortunately, the crowd has thickened considerably since you’ve ventured into the enchanting store. Your head swings back and forth to scan the crowd on both sides of the street. A sandy haired man walking away from you catches your attention.

You run down the street to catch up to the stranger. “Excuse me!” you blurt out as you circle around him and face him.

“Oh,” you murmur with disappointment. The sandy haired player was not the same man you had met in the store. Blue eyes look into yours with confusion.

“Sorry, I got the wrong person,” you tell him, backing off to the side near a market stall. He gives you a strange look before continuing down the street.

“[Y/N]? Is that you?” a pleasant male voice rings out from beside the market stall.

You turn around to face the person calling you by your player name.

“Jin!” you exclaim pleasantly when you recognize his familiar blonde hair and full pink lips. You trot up to him and notice he is picking out vegetables. “What are you up to?” you ask curiously.

“I’m getting some ingredients to make stew,” he smiles cheerfully, waving two potatoes in the air.

“Stew? As a substitute for potions?”

“That’s right,” he replied, grabbing a handful of carrots. “How about you? Are you busy? Maybe I can show you how it works.”

You look around the market square, looking for the sandy haired man half-heartedly. “I guess not. A random guy came into the Enchanting Emporium and paid for my enchantment while I was distracted. It looks like he’s gone now.”

After paying for his ingredients, Jin turns around, fixing his gaze on you with a playful smirk. “That’s interesting. Sometimes girls pay for my stuff, too. I guess that’s what happens when you’re attractive.”

Your eyes widen in surprise at the admission. What was in the water lately that made everyone so confident? You stutter in shock,”B-but-“

Before you can argue with him, he starts down the path and raises his right arm. “Don’t even argue. Come on, let’s go!”

You stumble forward to catch up with his long stride. “Go where?” you mumble, fighting a blush.

“To the Bangtan Guild house!” he declares happily.

“What? You have a guild house already?” you ask incredulously. You hadn’t investigated, but you were almost positive that you would have to play for a good part of the year before you would be able to purchase even a regular player home.

As you follow Jin into the residential area, he clarifies his statement. “Err,” he starts sheepishly. “It’s actually a regular player home. We were impatient about having a player home, so we all worked hard and pitched in to pay for a cheaper player home.”

You hum with understanding. That was much easier to believe, especially knowing that the Bangtan Guild was relatively new.

“So V is a Ranger, Jimin is a Spellsword, J-Hope is an Acrobat or something sneaky, and RM is a Gunslinger. How about you?” you ask, voice lilted with interest.

“I couldn’t decide, so I chose to become a Bard,” he answers kindly.

“What exactly is that? I see that as a choice sometimes but I’ve never paid attention.”

“It’s mainly meant to be a Support class, so I can give buffs and heal other players, as well as distract or hinder enemies with my instrument. I’m sure you saw me playing my lute that first day we met,” he explains, meeting your eyes as he smiles.

“Oh, right! You were quite good with that lute,” you compliment him freely.

“Thanks,” he blushes. “Other than that, Bards can do many other things, depending on the player’s preference. I’m not coordinated like Jimin and J-Hope, so I dabble with a crossbow and some magic.”

“That sounds pretty well-rounded to me,” you look at him thoughtfully. “I ought to branch out more as well.”

As Jin leads you up the walkway of a modest player home, a curse captures your attention. The pair of you turn around to see a player struggling under a mountain of items a few houses away. A broken potion vial is lying beside his feet, spilling liquid on the cobblestone ground. The player continues on his trek up his walkway, lugging what appears to be his entire inventory into his house as the potion evaporates as fumes.

Jin giggles at the sight. “And that’s why we needed a house,” he announces with good humor, propping open the door for you to step through.

“I get it. I can be an item hoarder, too,” you chuckle as you walk into the home.

You walk into the living room, noticing that the space has been tastefully decorated with mahogany furniture. Adornments and knick-knacks are placed on the walls and on top of small reddish-brown shelves.

“Someone has good taste,” you think out loud, glancing at Jin.

“That would be Suga, mostly. I’ll let him know you appreciate his interior decorating skills,” his eyes crinkle as he smiles.

You watch him disappear into the kitchen as you slowly make your way through the living room, looking at the hand-picked furniture with appreciation.  

“Do you want to help me prepare the stew?” Jin asks as you examine the guild portraits hanging on the walls.

Your head snaps up at the prospect of learning a new game skill. “Sure!”

You dutifully walk into the kitchen behind Jin. He retrieves a knife from the counter and passes it to you.

“I hope you don’t mind helping me cut up some vegetables,” he smiles as he opens his player menu. A bundle of carrots appear on the counter next to a cutting board.

“Of course not,” you smile back in response, placing carrots over the cutting board.

You begin cutting the carrots carefully beside him as he continues to peruse his inventory, retrieving the various groceries he had bought at the market. From the corner of your eye, you watch the forms of lettuce, meat, onions, and other small vegetables materialize on the kitchen counter.

“Hm, that’s strange,” Jin breaks the silence with a thoughtful tone. “I don’t remember picking up this flower.”

You turn your attention to him, mentally putting your hands on autopilot as you continue chopping the fresh vegetables.

A dark flower with a long stalk materializes into his hand. Large dark purple, almost black, petals lie open conservatively, as if too timid to fully bloom. The petals remind you of unwashed purple grapes at the grocery store, mimicking their dry white sheen.

“Looks like a tulip,” you comment, removing your gaze from the flower to continue cutting another carrot.

“This isn’t an ingredient I’ve catalogued alchemy effects for. I hope it’s not harmful.”

Before you can ask what he means by ‘catalogued’, you whirl your head around to watch him place the entire flower into his mouth. He quickly consumes the entire stalk, looking as though eating entire flowers is an everyday occurrence for him.

“What th- Oh!” you cry out, distracted from your confusion when you accidentally slice your finger with the kitchen knife. Dark red blood wells up at the surface of the wound.

As the minor wound begins to seal, you notice Jin stiffen beside you.

“You distracted me with your crazy behavior,” you frown, but maintain a playful glint in your eye as you turn to look at the blonde male.

Instead of looking – I don’t know,  _normal?_  – you notice his eyes have become heavily lidded. His arms tremble slightly as he clenches his fists. The muscle on the lower half of his face twitches as his jaw sets firmly.

“Jin?” you ask tentatively, wondering if the black tulip’s effect is strange behavior. “You okay? It’s just a little blood. J-Hope cut me up worse yesterday.”

You giggle quietly, lifting your hand to show him the healing finger. The fresh blood has begun to fade away, but remains dark on your finger.

Jin jerks forward, grabbing your hand and pivoting you roughly so that your back faces the counter. He pins your other hand to the side of the counter.

“Jin?” you whisper fearfully, having never seen such a violent reaction from the gentle Bangtan guild member. For the first time, you notice his eyes are a deep rose pink.

He lifts your healed hand by your wrist, holding it up to his mouth. Without warning, he places the bloody digit into his mouth, sucking it carefully.

“What the heck?” you mutter breathlessly, eyebrows furrowing as his mouth retracts from your finger.

Instead of offering an explanation, he merely looks into your eyes. You notice with a start that his pupils have dilated and his rose pink eyes have darkened in color, glinting with golden speckles.

He presses you against the kitchen counter abruptly, pressing his chest into yours as his mouth seeks your throat. You tremble against him as you feel his unexpectedly cool breath on your neck.

“J-Jin?” you squeak, attempting to squirm away. This only appears to encourage his predatory aggression as his grip on your wrists tightens.

You gasp as you feel his tongue graze your neck lightly, tracing a wet pattern over your pulsing blood vessel. Feeling his soft lips on your throat, your knees begin to tremble against his legs. When two sharp teeth press against the surface of the skin, you have just enough clarity of mind to realize your situation before he finally takes action.

His fangs puncture your neck, forcing a choked cry out of you. Your mind suddenly feels too cloudy to process the feeling of your hot blood within the boundary of his cool lips. Intoxicated, you release a throaty moan, blissfully ignorant of your declining health bar.

Somehow, it is the feeling of pressure lifted from your wrists that brings you back to a semi-conscious state. Jin begins to thread his fingers through your hair, fingers pressing firmly against your scalp.

His actions bring you sudden clarity. You bring your hands up to his chest and roughly shove him away from you. Jin’s body slams into the wall, causing him to yelp in pain as he slides to the floor. You shakily steady yourself before grabbing the kitchen knife from the counter.

“H-How dare you!” you stutter furiously, your face flushed and hair mussed as you brandish the improvised weapon. His cloudy expression disappears, replaced by a look of horror as he comes to terms with his actions. Dark red stains his delicately pink lips, dripping over his jaw in a macabre fashion.

“A-ah! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” he exclaims profusely, his eyes wide as he swipes his sleeve across his mouth, darkening the fabric. “I didn’t mean to lose control like that. I’m so sorry, [Y/N]!”

You grip the handle of the kitchen knife firmly, pursing your lips angrily. “You didn’t tell me you were a vampire! I can’t believe you would attack me like that!”

Jin’s eyes redden and begin to glisten. “I was actually planning to tell you here, but I think the plant amplified my thirst. It was bad luck that you happened to cut yourself right then. I’m so sorry!”

Your grip on the knife handle loosens when you look into his glossy eyes. The dark rose pink color has lightened and his pupils have returned to their natural state. His affliction appears to have been chased away. His horrified expression matches his repentant tone, at least.

He frantically pulls up his player menu, fingers pressing into the hologram as his eyes flit over the small screen rapidly. He freezes in place.

“Queen of the Night. I ate a plant called Queen of the Night.” He looks slightly green. “Effects include ‘Increased Vampiric Powers’.”

“And whose brilliant idea was it to eat some random flower? Wasn’t its name available while it was in your inventory?” you screech, lifting your knife once more.

He cowers in his spot on the floor. “It said ‘Unknown Plant Ingredient’! I promise!”

You growl, lowering your knife. After a few seconds of deliberation, you slam the knife flatly onto the counter top. Jin flinches at the sound.

“Quit acting helpless and tell me what’s going on,” you order with annoyance, stepping forward to grasp his hand and pull him back onto his feet.

He swallows nervously, eyes roaming the kitchen. His discomforted gaze rests on a stool near the wall, which he lifts.

“You can have a seat. It’s kind of a long story,” he mutters, gently placing the stool beside you.

You stare at the stool for a moment and decide to comply, seating yourself silently. You look at him with a neutral expression, calmly prompting him to continue.

Jin visibly relaxes, leaning his body against the wall. “It all began with my decision to choose the angel race for myself. None of my friends had chosen that race and it was only available as a choice for a limited time, so I felt pretty excited about it.”

He pauses, frowning at the ground. “Unfortunately for me, there was another guild active during the time that I started the game. A guild that specifically targeted players of the angel race. Their leader took great joy in harassing my friends and I before biting and infecting me.”

You look at him carefully. “Isn’t there a cure for it though?”

“Yes, there is. But it involves brewing a potion,” he pauses, looking unhappy about the memory. “A very expensive potion with rare ingredients.”

“And the incubation period for the disease?”

“Three days.”

You grimace, realizing that the vampire guild had set him up for failure from the start. By targeting new players, they had essentially made it improbable for them to obtain the cure in time.

“You need to check for Active Effects, [Y/N].” Jin appears somber, looking at you with a guilty expression. “I may have infected you.”

You immediately open your holographic player menu to view your Active Effects tab. Under the enchantments of your armor, you notice a red article.

“ _Morbus Hirudo_. Slight vulnerability to fire. Drain stamina five points.”

Jin groans, covering half of his face with his hand. “That’s it. We’re gonna need to go collect the potion ingredients.”

You interrupt him before he can continue. “Wait a second. Maybe becoming a vampire isn’t the worst thing ever? Aren’t there pros and cons to becoming one?”

He sighs in response, “Yeah, I guess so. I suppose I’m a little bitter because I wasn’t really given a choice, and it completely negated a lot of the effects my race gave me.”

Jin began listing the key characteristics of vampirism. You learn that vampirism offers increased strength and speed, as well as resistance to ice magic, poison, and diseases. Those with the affliction even had their own abilities, such as night vision, reanimation, and invisibility for a short period of time. They could even absorb the health of enemies or calm them to momentarily stall a battle.

These impressive gifts came with a heavy price. They were weak to fire magic permanently. Being in direct sunlight impaired their ability to defend themselves and decreased their available stamina, health and mana. Instead of naturally regenerating slowly, these meters would remain stagnant under the sun, forcing them to seek refuge during the daylight hours of the game. Starving oneself of blood helped amplify their vampiric powers, but it also amplified their weaknesses.

“You can’t really hope to benefit that much from vampirism unless you’re willing to play into their lifestyle,” Jin concluded, eyes boring into yours as you mulled over the information in your head.

You sigh, leaning backwards against the kitchen counter. “I guess you’re right. It wouldn’t do me any good to make such a rash decision. I’ll try to find the cure then.”

Jin smiled gently, “Good. I’ll help you, and I’m sure the guild will help you as well. We can go look for the first ingredient tomorrow, since it’s getting late today.”

He paused, and his smile drooped slightly. “I must warn you, though. The reason these ingredients are difficult to find is not because they’re sparse, but because of the creatures that guard them.”

“What do you mean?”

“In order to make a potion to cure vampirism, you need ingredients specific to vampires and to werewolves. Obviously, the werewolf guild isn’t likely to share anything from their den, even if it is to prevent vampirism.

And like I said before, the vampires of the Bloody Roses guild are reluctant to let go of potential recruits, so they guard the ingredients to prevent others from curing themselves.”

Your eyes widen upon hearing the name of the vampire guild. You suddenly remember the stranger at the Enchantment Emporium, with his mysterious rose pink eyes. Rose pink eyes that look exactly like Jin’s.

“For a lovely rose,” you mutter out loud, quickly retrieving the anonymous note from your inventory. You wordlessly hand the small piece of parchment to Jin.

His face pales upon reading the note. “W-where did you get this?”

“It was from the stranger at the emporium who paid for my enchantment,” you explain, frowning at his reaction.

“What did he look like?”

“He was tall and slim. He had sandy brown hair. And rose pink eyes, just like yours,” you answer quietly, looking carefully at his face, which turns even paler.

“Unbelievable,” he breathes out, staring at the counter. “It’s him.”

“Who?” you ask impatiently.

“Ken,” Jin murmurs quietly, returning his eyes to yours. There’s a cold fury within them that you’ve never seen since meeting the mild-mannered blonde male.

“The man who infected me. And the leader of the Bloody Roses.”


	5. The Berserker

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for your sweet comments and kudos! I'm so happy you guys are enjoying things so far. Please enjoy!

During the first session of Physics lab, you are assigned to attend the tutoring session first with half of the class. You walk behind the crowd of students as you make your way toward the campus learning center. It doesn’t take long for you to notice Park Jimin, Jeon Jungkook and Kim Taehyung walking slightly ahead of you and realize they are part of your tutoring and lab section.

“Get off of me!” Jungkook exclaims as he attempts to shake off the other two boys, who have taken it upon themselves to muss his hair up as much as they can.

“But you’re so precious!” Jimin protests, leaning into the younger boy’s space eagerly.

“Who else runs away when they talk to a girl?” teases Taehyung, resting his arm on the boy’s shoulder from his other side.

Jungkook responds by jabbing both of them with his elbows. “I did not! I… I really needed to go to the bathroom!”

“Sure,” sings Taehyung, sounding thoroughly unconvinced.

“Tell you what – we’ll forget about what happened if you can prove you can hold a conversation with an actual girl,” Jimin challenges, glancing at the boy with a conspiratorial look.

“Come on!” Jungkook whines. “This is stupid. I can talk to girls just fine.”

“Only when we’re around, apparently,” Taehyung replies, patting his back in consolation.

“All the time,” he stubbornly counters, sniffing in dismissal.

The other boys stay silent, patting his back in a patronizing manner and leaving the younger boy to stew in his own outrage. Before entering the library, Taehyung takes the opportunity to scan the campus and glances back to see you walking alone as you observe their antics with amusement.

“Ah, [Y/N]!” he calls out, drawing the attention of the other two boys. “Jungkook wants to talk to you alone.”

The freshman flushes red and sharply turns to continue walking toward the learning center door, his shoulders tense with embarrassment.

“Come on, you two. Quit bothering the guy,” you answer, watching the boy’s retreating figure with sympathy before narrowing your eyes at the other two males left. “I hope you guys are happy with yourselves.”

“Eh, don’t worry about it, he’ll forgive us if we buy him lamb skewers,” Taehyung smiles, following the younger boy into the room. Park Jimin’s eyes crinkle as he smiles sheepishly and turns to enter the room. You sigh and silently follow after them.

You see the familiar arrangement of tables from your last tutoring session. A single sheet of paper lies on each table. You walk toward the nearest table and read the sheet. As expected, a list of names are listed on the sheet. Not seeing your name, you continue visiting the rest of the tables until you reach the table seating Taehyung, Jimin, and Jungkook.

“Oh no,” you groan before leaning over the table to read the sheet.

“Oh yes,” Jimin replies while flashing a shit-eating grin as you spot your name on the list.

Sighing dramatically, you drop your bag on the floor and drag a chair back to unceremoniously slump into the seat.

“Gee, tone down the enthusiasm, [Y/N],” jokes Taehyung. You grin lazily and stick out your tongue.

“Oh wow, my treasured dongsaengs and even [Y/N]-ah are in my tutoring group. I’m honored,” a familiar voice cuts in, causing you to stiffen in your seat.

“Namjoon-ssi,” you regard the new arrival coolly. He smiles brightly and pats your shoulder before choosing a seat across the table. As the other members of your group cheered the arrival of the blonde male, you bite the inside of your lip with annoyance and glance sideways toward the shoulder he made contact with. You should have known this guy would end up being your physics tutor.

You and Namjoon had an interesting relationship, to say the least. You didn’t hate the guy, but he got under your skin more than anybody else, sometimes even more than Hyuna. While you could ignore Hyuna’s catty remarks, Namjoon was constantly undermining your efforts to rise to the top of your class in high school. The boy always seemed to be one step ahead of you at nearly any and every subject you went through together. The worst part was that he never appeared to deliberately rub it in your face. However, his occasional teasing, innocent or not, seemed to goad you more often than not. For some reason, that only seemed to encourage more teasing.

As he dives under the desk to rifle through his book bag, you stare at his messy hairstyle. You grudgingly compare the carelessly tousled blond hair to his own effortless persona. What was a slight comfort to you was the knowledge that it also reflects his own tendency to lose anything anywhere. That guy would lose his own head if it wasn’t already conveniently attached to his body.

He resurfaces with a manila folder and a pencil and you pointedly look away before he can catch you staring.

Another thing that prickled you about him was how handsome he was without trying. He sometimes wore the most ridiculous outfits to class. High-water pants, extra long-sleeved shirts, even overalls. Not altogether simultaneously, thankfully. But the guy even had dreadlocks at one point. At times, you wondered if he was competing against someone for the title of worst dressed, and felt a masochistic need to see what the other guy had up his sleeve.

You roll your eyes at the thought, catching Namjoon’s attention. He focuses his gaze on you and smiles, the corners of his eyes crinkling. You cringe and look down at your worksheet, ignoring the way his plump lips pout at your evasion.

“[Y/N]-ah, you’re going to burn holes into the desk,” he whines, leaning forward in his seat across you.

You struggle to not flush with embarrassment. Why did he insist on talking to you so informally? “I’m just reading our assignment.”

“I would have expected you to have finished it already,” he prods you playfully.

Your hands ball up into fists underneath the desk. You stare at him accusingly, responding bluntly, “It was only posted a few hours ago and I was in class.”

A hand reaches toward the back of your head and musses your hair. “Noona works very hard, hyung,” Taehyung declares gently, diffusing your defensive mood.

You smile gratefully at the brown-haired boy as he withdraws his hand and take a second to breathe in calmly. Something about the easy-going boy brought levity to any situation he was placed into.

“I agree,” Namjoon says softly with a bright smile, ignoring your passive aggressive complaint. You smile half-heartedly in his direction and glance downward to begin scribbling formulas on your worksheet. You knew your defensiveness was slightly uncalled for, but this had been the status quo between you and Namjoon for years. It didn’t help that he seemed to enjoy riling you up.

“Well, let’s get physical, everyone,” Namjoon claps, far too enthusiastically.

As you face-palm in response to the horrible dad joke, the groans from the other three boys bring a genuine smile to your face.

* * *

As you take to exploring the city, a ‘ping’ sound distracts you from the boisterous crowd. You open your player menu to view the notifications.

**Jin: Hey Y/N! Are you free at the moment? Kookie agreed to help us find the ingredients for your potion. He says hi, by the way.**

**You: Wow, great! Where are you guys?**

**Jin: Meet us outside the main Proelium gates.**

You banish your player screen and take off running toward the entrance where you had met J-Hope a couple of days ago. With pleasure, you notice that the act of running, while feeling real enough, does not disturb you as much due to time spent leveling up and investing your own time on working on your avatar’s agility and endurance. The blurs of people disappear behind you as you race past them and head outside of the city gates.

You slow into a brisk walk as you approach a pair of males and take into consideration their vastly different apparel. Jin boasts his handsome masculinity with a white, long sleeved tunic, covered by an open, brown medieval jerkins. A dark navy leather belt covers his waist as it wraps around both articles of clothing. Dark navy trousers cover his legs and you notice a strap of leather securing a crossbow to his back.

Kookie, on the other hand, appears to travel less lightly than his guildmate. Thick brown leather covers every inch of his body. A worn leather jacket that has no doubt seen many battles is strapped to his upper body. Form-fitting leather pants cover his legs as he strolls around, toting a monstrously large iron Warhammer with his fingerless, leather-gloved hands.

“Let’s get this party started! I’m ready to bash some werewolf skulls!” the maknae shouts enthusiastically, lifting the Warhammer as easily as if it were a lollipop.

Your eyes widen as you look upon the two men. “Are we seriously going to be fighting  _werewolves_?”

Jin glances with exasperation at the rowdy maknae, who is stroking his Warhammer reverently. “Yeah, we may have to. Unfortunately most of the locations we have to search involve clans or guilds that are very protective of their territory,” he explains, smiling weakly. Considering he is a vampire, it’s no wonder he looks rather unenthusiastic about the idea of clashing with werewolves.

“And are you sure we can handle that by ourselves?” you ask with uncertainty. You had been working on your magic and melee fighting skills, but if you would be fighting physically enhanced players…well, that would be an entirely different story.

“No worries!” Kookie declares, his auburn hair bouncing on his head as he gets into battle stance. “Those wimpy werewolves are actually all bark and no walk. Even awkward Jin can send them off with their tails between their legs.”

Jin scratches the back of his blonde head sheepishly at the younger male’s announcement. You raise your eyebrow at the strange dynamic between the two Bangtan Guild members. You had a feeling Kookie was one of the younger members who persistently disrespected the older members with his antics, even if good-naturedly.

“Watch it, Kookie,” Jin steps forward, ruffling the maknae’s hair with a saccharine smile. “You don’t want to see if I’m faking.”

Without turning to see the younger boy’s face turn slightly green, he walks off into the forest. You pat Kookie’s shoulder gently and follow closely behind the eldest member.

The three of you race through the forest as Jin leads, passing an endless amount of trees and avoiding fallen branches nimbly.

“So is it rare for all of you to be online at the same time?” you ask curiously, voice slightly heavy from the physical exertion.

“I suppose it is, especially if it’s a weekday,” Jin answered, his voice slightly strained as well.

“RM and Suga don’t come online on weekdays very often. They’re huge nerds,” Kookie adds, sounding absolutely normal. You turn to look at him as he speaks, noticing immediately that he looks as if he’s hardly even breaking a sweat.

“How in the world are you not even slightly tired?” you complain with a hint of jealousy, carefully leaping over a fallen log.

Kookie replies with a smug grin, “You’ve gotta have a ton of stamina to use a huge weapon like mine.”

You huff in response, turning your attention back onto your surroundings. It wouldn’t do to trip over a tree root in the middle of your journey through the forest. Especially in front of the insolent maknae. He had already stolen over half of the kills in the forest. You silently wept inwardly for the lost opportunities for more EXP and turn to look at Jin as he slows down.

“We’re almost here, standby with your weapons, you two,” Jin ordered quietly as his lute materialized into his hands. Your mouth quirks up slightly from the sight of the non-threatening choice of weapon. Shaking your head, you began to charge your palms with mana while Kookie removes his Warhammer from its secure spot on his back. You can’t help but feel curious about seeing the guys’ interesting weapons in action.

Your trio walks cautiously into a small clearing, where a small lake is situated to surround a massive rock formation. A path of stepping stones lead across the lake into a dark entrance obscuring a cave. You take a moment to scan your surroundings, silently confirming the absence of enemies.

“This place is called Selenic Grotto,” Jin explains as you and Kookie follow behind him onto the stepping stones. “It’s a known spot for werewolves, players and NPC’s alike.”

As you follow behind Jin, a small ‘ping’ causes you to jump slightly in surprise. A small notice appears at the corner of your sight as a holographic marquee, displaying “Jimin is online” before disappearing after a short moment.

“Great! Jimin can join us when we kick werewolf ass,” Kookie exclaims with excitement, pulling up his player menu to communicate with the sunset-haired Spellsword.

As Jin admonishes Kookie for his coarse language, a thought causes you to purse your lips thoughtfully. “Won’t he have to make the trip too?” you ask.

“Actually, since we’re in the same guild, he can teleport to us,” Jin grins as a circular pattern of light illuminates the forest floor beside Kookie. You stare, mesmerized, as tiny orbs of light begin to spiral into a cylindrical shape that is about six feet in height. A human silhouette made out of prickles of light begins to materialize over a stepping stone. Soon the orbs of light begin to diminish, allowing the bright orange of his hair, the dark brown of his leather doublet and the silver of his chainmail grieves to be seen fully.

As Jimin looks around the area with a grin, Kookie rushes forward and swipes his leg over Jimin’s midsection. The orange-haired boy yelps, flailing his arms outward as he loses his balance and falls into the lake. Your eyes widen with surprise at the sudden attack.

“Kookie!” Jimin screams in rage. The water in the lake reaches his shoulders as he stands upright and shakes his hair vigorously, pelting Kookie’s pants with water. “Why the hell would you do that?!”

Kookie backs away to the opposite edge of the stepping stone, an impish grin on his face as he trains his eyes on the soaked boy. You sigh at the display of petulance between the two younger boys.

“Well, you should feel lucky you didn’t have to run all the way here,” Kookie grins innocently as he watches Jimin wade toward the shallow end and lift himself onto a stepping stone.

You roll your eyes in response and cut in. “As if that really hindered you!”

Jimin passes by Kookie, bumping his shoulder intentionally as he walks toward your stepping stone. He slings his damp arm over your shoulder. “At least I have [Y/N] here to protect my honor.”

You flash him a lopsided grin and shrug his arm off of your shoulder. “In your dreams, Jimin,” you tease, watching the mock expression of hurt cross his face. Something about the playful boy made him fun to mess around with.

“Come on children, let’s go,” Jin declares, puffing up his chest with an air of importance as he begins to step toward the cave opening.

“He’s one to talk,” Kookie whispers loudly to you and Jimin.

“I heard that,” Jin rebuked playfully.

“Good.”

* * *

“Is this place usually so…quiet?” you ask, flinching as the sound of your voice pervades the atmosphere of the grotto. The gentle sound of running water accompanies your question like an afterthought.

“Actually, that does seem strange. The werewolf pack might be out today,” Kookie answered, looking around the vacant cave thoughtfully. He begins to sniff around.

‘Wait, sniffing? He’s weirder than I thought,’ you shake your head and turn away from the strange boy.

Without the presence of high-leveled enemies, it is easier for you to take notice of the beautiful, natural cave formation. The small entrance of the grotto had led you into a cave with walls that seemed to glow peacefully with moonlight, despite the enclosed space. Running water appeared to trickle from cracks in the walls, moistening the ground and collecting into a deep, stagnant river beside the path you were following.

Patches of light blue, glowing mushrooms were sprouting across the cave ground and walls. You couldn’t resist picking a handful for experimentation at the apothecary’s alchemy workstation. Jin had followed your example, picking a handful and explaining that they gave his soups a certain zest. Whatever that meant. At least in this game you didn’t have to worry about whether things could be radioactive. Any strange glowing could easily be explained away by magic.

“Well, I wouldn’t look a gift-horse in the mouth. Their guild doesn’t exactly like me,” Jin murmurs as he quietly dispatches a rat scuttling across the cave with his crossbow.

You had been taking care of small creatures such as rats and spiders, but so far you had seen neither the NPC werewolves nor the player werewolves. It had been a quiet and simple trip, which suited you just fine. Why struggle now when you still had other items to find for the vampire disease potion?

“They don’t exactly like me either,” adds Kookie with a sneer across his face. “Ever since they infected me, they’ve been pestering me about joining their Silver Claws guild. Even if I weren’t in a guild already, I would never join their ranks. They’re just as bad as the Bloody Roses with their aggressive way of recruiting.”

Your head whips around to face him, “No way. Don’t tell me you’re a werewolf, too.”

“I’m the most ferocious of them all,” Kookie smirks while wagging his fingers, which you only now just notice are embellished with sharp black nails.

“Wow,” you deadpan. “Is there anything else I need to learn about you guys? Is Jimin a demon?”

“Hey!” Jimin shouts, looking ruffled. “Do I  _look_  like I could be a demon?”

“It’s always the quiet ones,” you whisper conspiratorially, turning towards the other members, who shake their heads and grin in response.

“Well if anything, I’d say Jimin is a fairy or something. He’s too adorable not to be one,” Jin smiles while dodging a half-hearted swat from the bright-haired boy.

“You guys are picking on me,” wails Jimin, displaying the most pitiful facial expression that he can muster.

“Because it’s fun!” Kookie nudges the older boy.

“I’m your hyung!”

“That’s enough, you guys,” Jin interrupts the bickering pair, waving his hand between them. “Remember, we’re in unfamiliar territory.”

While Jimin looks down, appearing slightly chastised and embarrassed, Kookie sticks his tongue out after Jin turns his back to them. You shake your head at the immaturity of the group of boys and jog to catch up to Jin.

“So what exactly are we searching for here?” you ask quietly as you follow alongside him, hesitant to interrupt the peaceful trickling of water with your own unrefined voice.

He responds softly enough for you to hear. “Near the end of this cave, there is a chamber missing a ceiling. There grows a certain type of flower called the Moon Flower. Like the glowing Luminous Russula mushrooms we found earlier, this type of flower is indigenous to this type of environment.”

Kookie suddenly interrupts Jin’s lecture, rushing past him to turn around the corner. “We’re here!”

You glance at Jin, who is now sporting an exasperated expression. Smiling apologetically, you speed up your walk to follow the eager maknae into the chamber.

“Whoa.”

You ignore the shuffling of feet behind you as you greedily feast your eyes upon the moonlit chamber. A circular opening in the stony ceiling exposes the chamber to the night sky. The full moon rests high in the sky in full view, its reflected light pouring into the cave chamber. On the cave ground, slabs of moonstone encircle an illuminated garden of various species of herbs and flowers. Water trickles from a corner of the cave, forming a shallow pond around the edges of the garden.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” asks Jin, stepping beside you to admire the view.

“Extremely,” you breathe out, tentatively taking a step forward. A distant howl interrupts your thoughts.

“Crap, the pack is returning,” Kookie curses. “Hurry up and get the flowers so we can leave. The wolves are nearby.”

Jin rushes forward toward the garden and collects a few of the luminously white flowers in the garden. He turns around and rushes back toward the group.

As you exit the moonlit chamber together, Kookie interrupts, “We are not going the long way back. Follow me, I know a shortcut. I hope you guys have some water-breathing potions.”

Without waiting for a response, Kookie dives into the river along the grotto pathway. The rest of your group jumps in behind him to follow. After diving into the deep river with held breath, you open your eyes to see the dim silhouettes of your friends through the dark water. Just another reason to be grateful for the presence of the luminous mushrooms scattered throughout the cave.

You concentrate on the knowledge of your novice water-breathing spell and cast it underwater. You notice Jimin and Jin doing the same, while Kookie takes a quick sip of a potion as he leads the group along a hidden underwater pathway. As you break away from the relatively drier cave path, your eyes strain to recognize the forms of the boys swimming ahead of you. As if your thoughts had been broadcasted, a response in the form of light appears from Jin’s open palm, illuminating the submerged path.

Thankfully, the path appears to be straightforward, containing few diverging paths. As you swim, you notice a human-sized skeleton sprawled across the cave ground. With a shudder, you press forward, watching as Jimin effortlessly cuts through a piranha with his short sword. Feeling the effect of your spell waning, you cast it once again.

You begin to approach a better lit section of the cave. Perhaps the end? An aggressive fish emerges from a crevice you pass, plunging its sharp teeth into your leg. You hiss in surprise, bubbles escaping your mouth as you summon a small dagger from a holster on your thigh. Twisting your body, you swipe your dagger across the fish’s body, killing it instantly.

You sheathe your dagger and continue swimming to catch up to the group. The light grows brighter as you reach the end of the path. You watch as the boys rise to the surface one by one and follow after them, gasping deeply when your head pushes past the water and meets the crisp night air.

You wade to the edge of the surface of the lake, shaking the water from your hair. You know from experience that drying in-game occurs quickly, so you don’t worry about being soaked for long. Which was a good thing, considering how it seemed to slow you down by a noticeable degree.

Jin stiffens beside you as a sneer forms on his face and Kookie growls suddenly.

“Well, well. What do we have here? A ragtag group of misfits?”

You settle back into a defensive position at the sound of the low, bass voice coming from the edge of the forest beyond the clearing surrounding the lake. A small group of heavily armored men emerge from the cover of the foliage. The steel of their pauldrons reflect the moonlight as they approach the clearing to meet your group. You gulp nervously. There were howls earlier. Could this be the werewolf guild?

“Hello there, Ulric,” Kookie replies, barely keeping the sound of disdain from his greeting.

Ulric, a tall and muscular with shaggy, light brown hair, steps forward alone, silently distinguishing himself from his pack. A cordial smile crosses his face as he examines your group.

“I see your entire pack is not present. But you have brought along your leech.”

Kookie snarls quietly while Jin’s fists curl and tighten with anger. Anticipating a violent confrontation, you begin to charge your mana from your fists

“What’s this? A she-wolf?” He asks with interest when he notices your action. He sniffs the air in your direction. His eyes widen and narrow threateningly. “Oh, she is turning into one of them,” he growls with contempt as he juts his chin in the direction of Jin.

“That’s of no concern to you. We were just leaving the area,” Kookie explains stiffly, standing his ground.

“Of course, I’d be interested in the company a young pup keeps. Especially when I catch them coming from our hide-out.”

“We took an ingredient from the grotto. Which will respawn after an in-game day, surely,” Jin offers, maintaining a civil tone.

“Looking for the cure? Ashamed of your own affliction, aren’t you? Not surprising for a leech,” Ulric prods with a smug look.

The tenseness in the atmosphere is almost palpable. Everybody remains quiet for a short few seconds, with the exception of Kookie, who is now growling dangerously low. Jin clears his throat and responds tersely.

“There is no need to worry about it. Please allow us to go back home without incident.”

Ulric looks back toward his pack of followers, four in total. Finally, after exchanging a look with the eager werewolves, he returns his focus to your group. Your heart rate catapults as you recognize his expression as that of a predator ready to chase after its prey.

“I think not. Let’s teach these guys a lesson about trespassing, boys.”

Guttural snarls and growls fill the air as the opposing guild collectively transforms into werewolves. Your friends withdraw their respective weapons and spread themselves out to surround the transforming werewolves. Smooth skin is replaced by thick fur in various shades of brown and black. Small black claws begin to grow and sharpen. Their shiny metallic armor fades away with the transformation, revealing thick, muscular torsos.

As you hastily back away from the transforming wolves, you cast a fire shield around yourself. Briefly noting the fact that Kookie has chosen to remain untransformed, unlike the other werewolves. You quickly wonder about the weaknesses of their transformation. Such information would prove to be useful in this battle, after all.

You charge mana in your palms as you watch Jimin and Kookie rush toward the wolves, wielding a heavy Warhammer and a sharp sword respectively. As you fling a fireball at the nearest beast, a russet werewolf, Jin strums a tune with his lute and quickly replaces it with a crossbow. You feel a subtle tingle and notice a light red aura around you and the Bangtan guild. With no time to check for yourself, you privately speculate that it must be an effect that would fortify health points and continue to bombard the russet werewolf with fireballs.

As the werewolf attempts to shake off the remnants of flames across his body, he turns his focus to you and charges forward. Realizing that the werewolf has an immense speed advantage against you, you switch tactics and blast the ground with ice magic. The soft soil freezes over into a thin sheet of sleet, then into a thick layer of ice. The werewolf realizes your ploy too late to change his path and loses his footing on the ice. You run out of its path as it barrels down the frictionless ground.

Determined not to squander your advantage, you bring your hands together and launch a large ice spear, its trajectory accounting for the werewolf’s undignified glide across the ice.

You barely have the chance to see the spear embed itself within the beast’s flesh when a heavy blow to your head rattles your senses and knocks you to the ground. With rising panic, you manipulate your mana around you and send thunderbolts in every direction. A strangled yelp lets you know the attacker was knocked away momentarily as you rise to your feet and stumble away, fighting heavy disorientation as you turn to face him. The effects of the red aura surrounding you kick in, rapidly regenerating your lost health.

The black werewolf recovers from the shock, shaking his heavy pelt before pouncing on you. Within a split second, you make the decision to attempt something innovative and form an ice dome over your body, hastily reinforcing it with ice spikes. A pained yowl accompanies the cracking of ice above you as the werewolf slams into your shield. You run away before the dome collapses and drops the werewolf on the ground where you had stood.

Hearing the loud trotting of paws and a snarl behind you, you throw yourself to the side, hitting the ground painfully as you roll away. Your breath hitches in your throat as you realize your reflexes had saved you from the claws of the russet wolf you had assaulted with the fireballs and icy slip-n-slide.

To your dismay, the wolf who had fallen to your ice dome had recovered and was now picking himself on the ground. With rising desperation, you spread your hands to point them toward each of the werewolves and discharge electric shocks. Throaty growls reveal that your attack is debilitating, but not enough of an impediment to stop them from their charge towards you.

You quickly pick yourself up from the ground and run away from the menacing beasts. There is just no way you would attempt what you had learned from J-Hope today. Not against their brute strength. Instead, you opt to fling more fireballs in their direction as you put more distance between them and yourself.

You become painfully aware of the fact that your mana reserves are dwindling and not regenerating quickly enough. Quickly, you summon a potion from your inventory and drink from the vial to restore the mana you had used.

With more magic to spare, you slam your hands on the ground, sending a cascade of ice spikes erupting from the ground toward the werewolves. The russet werewolf manages to change his path and avoid the assault, but the other werewolf isn’t as quick. As the werewolf falls, yelping with pain, you concentrate and send a small blizzard cloud at the other werewolf running toward your position. The werewolf attempts to zigzag in order to shake off the storm, but your focus allows you to manipulate it. You watch with relief as the beast’s fur begins to freeze over as it is pelted by the localized ice storm. Using ice was often a good strategy for enemies with stamina to spare. The inhibiting frost was often quite effective in slowing their movements.

Unfortunately, the russet werewolf you had distracted with the ice spikes had risen once more and was rushing toward you, his teeth bared with frustration. You cloak yourself in fire and with alarm, realize that the distraction had released the other werewolf from the minor icy tempest. The constant focus required for the spell had drained a lot of your mana. The two werewolves had been weakened significantly from your battle. Just a little more and you were certain you could take one out and hopefully hold off the other until one of the Bangtan members came to your aid.

You fling fireball after fireball towards both of the werewolves. The black werewolf who had been covered in icy patches howled loudly from the sudden, drastic change in temperature. Despite their injuries, both werewolves hurtle past the onslaught of fireballs, taking the brunt of the magical damage in favor of the advantage of melee combat.

With shaky hands, you switch to releasing a constant stream of flames from your palms, turning yourself into a human flamethrower. This change in tactics serves to slow them down, but at this point they have become enraged enough to ignore the searing blaze. The two beasts jump into the air, displaying an awe-inspiring configuration of trailing flames and smoking pelts. Frightened by the reflection of light on their sharp fangs, you run backwards and stumble, falling hard on your back.

Before you can even think about closing your eyes and resigning yourself to a quick death, another form hurtles into your line of vision. The tall, lithe figure swings his two-handed Warhammer and strikes the closest werewolf, who knocks the russet werewolf away from the force of the blunt attack.

“Kookie!” you shout in recognition as you watch him become engulfed by a turbulent blood-red aura.

The moonlight offers just enough light for you to be able to witness his face become covered in dark red facial markings. From his side profile, it appeared as though the paint had been painted vertically across his eye while a horizontal line of paint crossed the vertical marking and extended across the bridge of his nose. As you rise to your feet, you watch the maknae’s fearsome transformation and privately wonder whether it was caused by some hidden werewolf ability.

With an earsplitting war cry, Kookie lifts his Warhammer above his head and swings downward at the black wolf struggling to stand. The werewolf grunts with pain and collapses with no further resistance. Kookie barely spares a glance at the fainted player before charging toward the other werewolf, who is stumbling back onto his feet after the abrupt knockdown. Behind him, the defeated enemy begins to light up as the pixels that compose its body scatter and disintegrate. Hopefully he’d be licking his wounds wherever he respawned for a long while.

As Kookie leapt with his Warhammer raised high, the russet werewolf below him transforms into a human wielding a large, two handed sword. Your eyes widen when you recognize the light brown, shaggy hair. Ulric! You had been fighting the leader of the pack, along with one of his guild mates? No wonder you had struggled so much just to get an upper hand in the battle.

The loud clang of metal breaks you out of your shocked state.

“The werewolf affliction is wasted on you, pup,” Ulric spits out, firmly blocking the Warhammer despite his haggard appearance.

“The Berserker ability is a lot cooler than being some bumbling beast,” Kookie growls, pushing against the man. Somehow, the lightweight boy is able to force the larger man backwards a few steps.

“You’re a fool for hanging around vampire spawn,” the muscular male snarls. He suddenly rushes forward, knocking Kookie’s Warhammer away and forcing him off balance. He quickly circles around Kookie and slashes his sword at his side. To your surprise, the gaping wound heals almost as immediately as it was inflicted.

Before Ulric can swing again to retaliate, Kookie swings his hammer in an upward arc aimed toward his head. A sickening crack follows the harsh impact, rattling his brains enough to knock him down.

“That’s for insulting my friends! And for ganging up on a lady!” Kookie declares, with a final swing at the enemy leader’s torso. Ulric’s body shines with light as his body dissolves into scattered pixels. The blood-red aura begins to dissipate from Kookie’s form, taking his exotic facial markings away.

His fresh, boyish face snaps you back to reality. Your cheeks burn at the comment. “I’m not some damsel in distress!” you shout, feeling indignant.

Kookie’s face wilts with disappointment. “But noona, I saved you,” he whines.

“I-I guess so,” you concede gruffly, unable to look at his childish face without feeling protective. And this was the guy who had bashed in the skull of a guy twice his size. The thought causes you alarm for a second, until you relax again when you realize that you’re being ridiculous and that Kookie is your ally. 

“Thank you, Kookie,” you smile sincerely.

His face brightens immediately. “Noona, you kicked butt!”

You cast your eyes downward with some diffidence. “A-ah, you think so?”

“Definitely!” a voice cuts in. You turn to see Jin and Jimin beaming at you. “During my battle I kept seeing flashes of light. It was impressive!” Jin exclaims, his eyes twinkling with admiration.

“Yeah, and none of those meatheads would ever choose to fight with magic, so we knew it was you,” Jimin grins, while shaking some dirt from his orange hair.

“Thank you, guys,” you reply cheerfully, moved by their praise.

Kookie lifts his heavy Warhammer to equip it onto his back. “Battles always make me hungry. Jin-hyung, can we have lamb skewers today?”

Jin pretends to consider the request. “I suppose we’ve all earned it.”

Before you can wonder why the request seems familiar, the other boys cheer with renewed energy and bolt away in the direction of the city. You smile and join in the race, feeling the carefree spirit sweep you away like the night breeze.


	6. The Conjurer

After your last class of the day, you make your way through the lab building. A biology professor greets you politely as you walk past them. Your campus had designated a specific building for the SET undergraduate students to assist professors with research, so you often ran into familiar faces while you made your way to the laboratory stock room.

You glance down at your phone to scroll through the front page of your Reddit app, pausing as one post catches your eye. “Animus Online Developer ‘Synapsis’ Announces Special Event for Release Date,” read the headline title. You select the post and scan through the comments.

“Great, we finally get a proper event and the casuals will be there to crash it.”

“Why’s it so late in the day on a Sunday night? Is Synapsis okay?? Oh well, what is school anyways…”

After reading through the comments, you sigh with annoyance. You had barely gotten the chance to get ahead in the game and now the rest of the country was about to surpass you. Not to mention that you already knew you would be worn out on Monday morning thanks to whatever special event had been planned for the old and new players.

As you walk down the hall with your eyes glued to your phone’s screen, the sound of unfamiliar hip-hop music catches your attention. You turn your head to face the next lab room, where you spot Min Yoongi bobbing his head to a beat playing from his headphones as he scribbles on a notebook. A variety of metallic and plastic parts surround him on his workbench, beside a robot that was approximately six inches tall. Namjoon is typing away on his computer when he notices your movement in the hall. He turns his head and makes eye contact with you, recognizing you instantaneously.

“[Y/N]-ah! Come look at our robot!”

You maintain a passive face while you groan inwardly. Running into Namjoon was never your favorite part of wandering the SET building. Stopping in front of the door, you shift awkwardly on your feet when you notice Yoongi has looked up from his writing to examine you casually. While you were not the biggest fan of Namjoon, you had to admit the company he kept was intriguing. The peach-haired male was a senior engineering student whom you often walked by on your way to classes. After attending a symposium for engineering students out of curiosity, Min Yoongi had impressed you with his ability to design and craft useful robots. You also couldn’t deny the curiosity you had about his personal life. It was difficult to not be drawn to his laid-back and intelligent persona.

You rip your eyes from his passive expression and reluctantly turn your focus to Namjoon. “I wouldn’t want to interrupt you two while you’re hard at work,” you protest awkwardly, your teeth tugging on your bottom lip hard out of frustration.

“Nonsense. Check out our hard work,” Namjoon urges, waving you over as he stands up from his stool.

“Well, alright then,” you mumble quietly, your heart beat hiking slightly as you step into the lab. Namjoon lifts the small robot from the table.

The sudden movement disturbs Yoongi from his writing. As he noticed Namjoon lifting the robot, his eyes widen. “Hey, wait a second, Joon,” he protests, standing from his seat while he removes his headphones. “Give me that. I don’t want to go through what happened last time again.”

Namjoon freezes in place, looking sheepish. You sense a story behind Yoongi’s words and raise your eyebrow at the blonde boy, unable to help the sly grin on your face. “What’s Yoongi-sunbae talking about,  _Joon_?”

He coughs awkwardly in response. “Nothing, nothing. Yoongi-hyung is just a joker.”

“What did you just call me?” Yoongi asks pointedly while snatching the robot from Namjoon’s hands. Namjoon’s face pales as his arms stay in the same position, holding an invisible weight. Yoongi rolls his eyes and turns to you, his left eye twitching slightly. “I’m sure word has reached every end of campus about our resident God of Destruction.”

You bark out a laugh in response to the nickname. How could you ever forget the guy’s tendency to break everything he could get his hands on? One year during middle school, when the two of you had still been close friends, you had decided to gift him a bag of packing peanuts for one of his birthdays. You had of course given him a real present after that, but it had been amusing to watch his pouting face.

“I constantly have to fix whatever this guy breaks,” Yoongi grumbles as he steps around the work bench to the center of the room. You follow him to find a modestly large maze made of thick, wooden planks.

“Nice,” you whistle appreciatively as Yoongi places the small robot beside the entrance. “Is it a labyrinth-navigating robot then?”

“Not just that, but it can also evade obstacles,” the older male explains as he flips a switch on the robot’s side. A small red light begins to blink as a soft whirring fills the silence in the lab.

You turn, noticing Namjoon walking up to the maze with a box of matches and a small candle. With a quiet squeak of surprise, you rush away from him.

He scoffs in disbelief. “Seriously, [Y/N]-ah?”

“You’re a dangerous man wielding dangerous weapons,” you reply simply, crossing your arms. “Why should I risk my life today?”

“It’s a damn candle,” he whines, waving the unlit candle in front of you. In response, you stand back, raising an eyebrow to prompt him to proceed now that you were safely out of the way. For all you know, he could trip after lighting the match and end up setting you on fire. It was best not to tempt fate when the God of Destruction was involved.

Namjoon sighs in defeat and the snickers beside you alert you to Yoongi’s muffled laughter. You grin about having made the quiet boy laugh at Namjoon’s expense. After glaring at the pair of you, Namjoon lights the small candle with a match and places it in the middle of a path.

“Start,” Namjoon states loudly. The robot’s red light flashes green as its wheels began to turn, cautiously guiding it into the maze’s entrance. You watch with interest as the robot maneuvers itself tentatively throughout the maze. Whenever it encounters a dead end, it manages to utilize the limited space to turn around and head back. After a minute or so, it finally approaches the small lit candle. Once it is within a foot’s distance, it stops in place and flashes red. It begins to backtrack, deeming the pathway too obstructed to cross through.

“Why didn’t it just circle around the candle? It would probably fit through the path just fine,” you ask out loud as your eyes follow the robot attempting to find a new path.

“That’s been one of our issues so far. We want the robot to be able to use its sensors to detect unsafe obstacles, but it seems to be a little too sensitive,” Namjoon replies.

“How are you sure it detected the candle as a temperature obstacle rather than a physical obstacle like a wall?” you inquire thoughtfully. “Was that why the light flashed red?”

“Oh good, you noticed that. That’s exactly what the red light meant,” said Yoongi. He steps forward and calls out. “Stop!”

He steps into the maze, carefully avoiding the wooden walls in order to reach forward and lift the robot out of the maze.

Namjoon begins to speak, diverting your attention from Yoongi’s nimble escape from the labyrinth. “I’ve been trying to program the robot to evade obstacles, but it always seems to get stuck at that point. Another thing we’ve been trying to do is have the robot complete the maze within the same time range even when we change the labyrinth.”

You hum with interest. Although you weren’t as fond of Namjoon as when you were both younger, it interested you to know what kind of projects he was working on. Namjoon and Yoongi were the perfect duo – the former was currently a Computer Science major while the latter was an Engineering major. The pair had found particular resonance in the field of robotics and had competed in several robotics competitions, even in high school.

Yoongi coughs awkwardly, distracting you from your thoughts. “As you can see, it is still a work in progress.”

You smile encouragingly at him before shooting Namjoon a sheepish glance. “Well, I’m sure if anybody can figure it out, it would be you two.”

Namjoon’s face brightens as if Christmas had come early. “[Y/N]! Thanks for your encouragement! Why, now I feel…. recharged!”

Beside you, Yoongi smacks a free hand into his face and emits a pained groan. You sigh and struggle not to roll your eyes. For a genius, that guy seemed to have a knack for disgusting everyone in the room with his cheesy dialogue.

* * *

**Jin: We’re ready! Meet you in front of the Proelium gates.**

“Well, Eunhye, looks like I gotta go,” you turn to face Eunhye, who is furiously sharpening her axe on the blacksmith’s grindstone. She had already botched a few attempts due to her novice skill in Smithing, and her patience was running thin.

The noise of grinding stops as Eunhye lifts her weapon. “Oh no, [Y/N]. You are not running off with these random guys alone again. Last time I let you run off with one of them, you contacted an STD! And not to mention you completely ditched me while doing it.”

“What?!” you exclaim in indignation. “What STD, you crazy woman? And I already apologized for leaving you the other day, but you know how you get when we go to the market. I knew I wouldn’t see you for at least another hour until you were finished examining all the axes in the city.”

“You heard me! You let some pretty boy vampire sink his fangs into you and now you have to run around looking for a cure. Sounds like an STD to me. At least tell me something – was it worth it?” Eunhye gestured salaciously as she pointed her obscenely large two-handed axe at you.

You growl at her, blushing furiously. “It wasn’t like that.”

“Sure, keep your saucy secrets from your best friend,” she sighs in resignation. “Either way, I’m gonna tag along, okay? Just to make sure you don’t contract some more diseases. And to find some heads to bash.”

Sighing exasperatedly, you nod slowly. “Just as long as you keep the inappropriate commentary to a minimum.”

“No promises, love.”

* * *

“[Y/N]! Duck!” Suga shouts from across the dungeon chamber.

Without a second thought, you obey and duck, feeling a rush of relief as you hear the whiz of a fireball pass over your body. You curse yourself for having almost been struck and straighten up as you quickly step backwards out of the line of fire. Your palms crackle with electricity as you face your attacker, an NPC necromancer. As dark magic surrounds the necromancer’s outstretched palms, you fling an amplified chain of lightning at him. The attack manages to slough off additional HP from the necromancer, but does not manage to stop him from conjuring an undead skeleton between you.

You growl in frustration and pitch a fireball at the skeleton, knocking it backwards onto the caster. Stepping sideways to circle around the necromancer, you aim another chain of lightning at him, ignoring the creature regaining its balance.

While fighting necromancers was an annoyance due to their ability to distract you with their physical conjurations, they had one inherent weakness. Their defenses were weak and their conjurations would cease to be once the casters were killed. Lightning magic, while not as destructive as fire, was perfect against mana users. You were sincerely lucky that the AI had not yet managed to adapt to the player’s play-style, or you would have run out of mana long ago.

You lob another lightning strike at the necromancer, watching as he withdrew a small dagger from the sheath on his hip. Good, he was getting reckless.

You avoid a strike from the approaching skeleton, kicking it aside and shuffling sideways away from it. The necromancer rushes forward, wielding the dagger in the air. Your palm turns frigid as you wait for him to close in on the space between you. You push the arm wielding the dagger to the side and release and ice spike into his chest.

The resistance against your arm loosens as the NPC freezes and goes limp, falling to the stone floor. The clatter of bones alerts you to the disintegration of his conjuration. As you scan the room for additional threats, you notice the bones burning away in black flames through your peripheral vision.

You watch as Suga stabs another necromancer in the stomach with a ghostly purple dagger and his spectral wolf familiar lunges and delivers the final blow. In an opposite corner of the chamber, Jin circles around a female necromancer, shooting bolts into her body with his crossbow as quickly as he can load them. His arms and chest are impaled with icy spikes. The NPC brings her palms together as they glow a pale blue.

You sigh with exasperation, but before you can fling a fireball at the necromancer to deliver the final blow, Eunhye rushes in with a war cry and cuts her down with her axe.

“Hey!” Jin shouts as he watches the female NPC buckle under the heavy blow. “I had that!”

Eunhye scoffs, placing a hand on her hip. “It sure didn’t look like it. To me it seemed like she was trying to make a vampire kebab.”

“She has a point,” Suga drawls with amusement. “I know you can use a short blade. Why don’t you?”

“I’m trying to branch out,” Jin replies, crossing his arms stubbornly. “I’m not that great at close combat and nobody else uses a crossbow in our guild.”

Suga sighs. “We don’t need more long-range fighters, hyung. Especially since it’s just us four today.”

“It’s fun, but I can’t be the only one bashing heads,” Eunhye pouts, resting her large, bloodied axe across her shoulders. You watch in momentary fascination as the red pigment on the blade begins to dissipate.

You shift your focus and snort at Eunhye’s single-mindedness about fighting. However, the comment rouses a thought to your mind. “Aren’t vampires usually close-range fighters?” you wonder aloud.

“I-I’m unique like that,” Jin stuttered, deliberately turning his face away from you.

“Don’t listen to him. He just doesn’t like how his vampiric form looks,” Suga says dismissively, as he crouches over the nearest necromancer to take their loot.

“Y-yah!” Jin exclaims, his tone indignant. “Paper white is  _not_  a good skin complexion.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” you deadpan. “You put yourself at risk over something superficial like looks.”

“It’s more for the irony of being a vampire and using a crossbow,” he mumbles unconvincingly, visibly shrinking under your scrutinizing gaze. After a few seconds, he twitches. “Aish! Fine, I’ll do close-combat.”

“ _Thank_  you,” Suga replies emphatically. “We’ve been trying to get him to return to melee combat for weeks, but he insists on trying a new weapon every few days. It’s really jarring for our group dynamic.”

“Hush!” Jin protests. “You’re making me look bad in front of the ladies.”

“You do that to yourself, hyung.”

“Ya!”

“Well, I’m glad everything is settled then,” you interrupt the quarrel with amusement as you pat down the necromancer and engage their inventory menu. Your eyes widen when you select a specific scroll in their possession. “Oh? Suga, I think this scroll’s for you.”

The scroll manifests in your grip as you hold it out toward Suga. He looks at it curiously as he walks up to you and takes it from your hand. His eyebrows raise a fraction as he notices its name. “Scroll of Conjuration: Hellhound? Nice.”

“Definitely a step above a spectral wolf,” you nod approvingly.

“Likely a bigger drain on my mana, though,” Suga sighs, as he reads the scroll to activate it and add the conjuration spell to his arsenal.

“Ugh,” Eunhye rolls her eyes. “You nerds and your fake magic fighting.”

“Why are you so blood-thirsty?” Jin asks her, looking affronted despite the irony.

“Why aren’t you? Oh, wait,” Eunhye pauses and glances meaningfully at you.

Both you and Jin blush furiously before Jin sputters, “For the last time, I was not in control when that happened! I was set up!”

“Let it go, hyung,” Suga pats his back consolingly before Eunhye’s smirk can set him off again. “I think we should press onward.”

“Good idea!” your best friend exclaims as she lifts her axe from atop her shoulders and rushes into the next room of the necromancer crypt.

“She has way too much energy,” Suga drawls, trudging after her at a snail’s pace. You grin wryly and follow after her.

* * *

“Gah!” Eunhye screams gutturally as she attempts to slice through the spectral direwolf dungeon boss without much success.

“Eunhye! Stop wasting your stamina! You need a silver weapon in order to hit it. Or magic!” you exclaim as you fling a fireball at the wolf once you get a clear shot.

Eunhye ignores your advice and continues to attempt to hack away at the specter, ignoring the very physical swipe of its claws as they rake across her iron armor.

“_ , you need to get her out of there or she’ll die,” Suga states beside you as he summons his spectral hellhound with a dark black fire to fight alongside Eunhye.

You grit your teeth as you glance at Jin, who is playing his lute furiously in an attempt to fortify Eunhye’s health points. You loved your best friend with every shred of your being, but she could get extremely reckless during video games. Must be a stress thing.

Either way, you had no choice but to rush in and pull her away, considering that Yoongi was not a close-range fighter and was trying his best to direct his summons against the boss and Jin was too busy using his support skills to do any fighting.

You took a quick breath to steel yourself before running toward the specter and Eunhye. A quick look at her health point bar told you that she was dangerously close to falling victim to the wolf despite Jin’s hard work. One more power attack and she would be done.

While shifting your focus to the wolf, you notice in despair that it has begun the movements that signify the beginning of a power attack. You make a split-second decision and shove Eunhye away from the direwolf, taking the brunt of its powerful claws on your chest. Your eyes widen helplessly as your health bar decreases in the fastest speed it has ever decreased. Before you can shift to back off, the direwolf specter lunges at you, sinking its fangs into your neck.

As your health bar depletes entirely, you hear the gasps and panicked shouts of your friends. You fall onto the ground, unable to move at all as you watch Eunhye step forward and use a fire spell you hadn’t seen her perform since your first day of playing Animus Online, before she had sworn off of using any type of long-range attacks. From another angle, bolts from Jin’s crossbow are pelted relentlessly at the direwolf and the hellhound continues to attack the direwolf.

You muse in amazement about the continued fire assault from Eunhye, running footsteps approach your position on the ground. Your eyes turn to catch sight of Suga’s mint blue hair and his milky white face as he bends over you, opening his inventory menu hastily. His hellhound continues to fight without his directive as he retrieves a shockingly red feather tinged with orange, flaming edges. He places the phoenix feather over your body hastily, and jumps to his feet to avoid proximity with the direwolf.

You watch in amazement as your entire body begins to appear as if it has caught on fire. For a split second, you fear being consumed in it, but quickly realize that it is painless. Rather than agony, you feel the flames quickly invigorate you. You jump to your feet as soon as you feel the resistance keeping you glued in position dissipate. As you rush backwards to place some distance between you, you see your health bar filling up fully while the flames dissipate from your vision.

Eager to not waste any time, you charge your palms with mana, the ice magic a stark contrast to the warmth of the phoenix feather flames. You fling an icy spear at the direwolf as it finally manages to take down Suga’s hellhound summon. The spear sends it barreling backwards, and you don’t give it time to recover, throwing another spear at its ghostly flank.

The specter makes no noise as it falls to the ground and bursts into a ghostly fire that rages for a few drawn out seconds before dissipating, leaving a luminescent blue liquid in its place. Your shoulders slump as you allow your palms to drop to your sides.

Your party looks exhausted, but satisfied about the outcome. Eunhye perks up from the victory and quickly runs toward the dropped item. You walk over to Suga, who has taken a seat on the hard concrete. When you reach his side, you sit down with your knees pressed against your chest and your hands locked under your knees. He continues to stare off into space, appearing not to notice or mind your presence.

“Thank you for using your revival item on me,” you say in a low voice.

A few seconds pass before he turns his head slightly, just enough to lock eyes with you.

“Don’t worry about it,” he says in a steady, low voice.

You clutch your wrists harder. “Are you sure? You didn’t need to use that on me. You guys could have handled it.”

Suga snorts in response. “We were a mess even with your help. We would have gotten ourselves destroyed if I hadn’t revived you,” he states in a matter-of-fact tone, raising his eyebrow as if to challenge you to object.

You stare at your knees briefly, pouting slightly as you consider his words. “Well, thank you. I’ll work harder in the future.”

He grunts and gives you a small nod before shifting his attention back to Jin and Eunhye, who are walking around the room to examine the goods that had been left by the necromancer NPCs.

“Here it is!” Jin exclaims from a corner, lifting a small sack in the air for all of you to see. “Here’s the vampire dust we came for.”

You perk up at his words and stand quickly to jog over to his location next to an Alchemist’s station. Seokjin passes the sack to you for you to peruse its contents. You lift the edge of the leather sack, watching the fine particles of ash gray dust cascade as your hand shifts under it.

“And I have the nasty glowing goop we came for,” Eunhye chimes in as she joins your side. She holds up a glass jar filled with the luminescent liquid residue from the specter.

“Is that it, then?” you ask Jin nervously. The past few days had been full of trials. Just for a few days, you would rather prefer to enjoy peaceful experience and skill grinding rather than face murderous NPCs and players.

Jin nods in response, his eyes crinkling into a smile reassuringly. “Yes, I chose this location knowing there was a high chance we could find these two things at the same time.”

He gestures for you and Eunhye to place your items on an individual alchemical rune symbol on the Alchemist’s station. You both watch with anticipation as the Moon Flower you had retrieved yesterday materializes into his open palm with an ethereal glow.

The sound of soft scraping against the ground coming from behind you rouses your attention. You turn around to face Suga, who approaches your group looking slightly lethargic.

“Are the ingredients ready, hyung?” he yawns, covering his mouth with the back of his hand. Jin nods in response, stepping aside to allow the shorter male access to the alchemy table.

You grasp Eunhye’s hand affectionately as you both step aside to give him space. Eunhye squeezes your hand in response, turning to glance at you with a warm smile.

The soft glow of the Alchemy table causes you to shift your attention back to Yoongi, who stands above it with his palms over a glass alembic. You purse your lips in disappointment as the alchemical instrument is filled with glowing, dark blue liquid. Somehow, you had expected the potion-making aspect of the game to be more involved, like cooking. Perhaps they would update this aspect for the final release this weekend.

After bottling the dark, gleaming potion, Suga passes you the glass bottle wordlessly.

“Thank you,” you nod, taking the bottle. Staring at it for a moment, you nervously wonder whether potions could fail to work in this game. Or whether the potion would taste like something you would find between a ghost’s toes. Oh well, best not think about it. You press the rim of the bottle against your bottom lip. “Well, bottoms up, I suppose.”

Angling the potion, you gulp down its contents quickly, unable to attribute its taste to anything in particular. A holographic marquee appears in your field of vision, notifying you, “Your affliction has been cured.” The glass bottle disintegrates into pixelsbefore disappearing entirely.

You glance toward Jin excitedly. “It worked!”

Jin claps delightedly in response, before patting Suga’s shoulders. The mint blue-haired male merely nods with a small, confident smirk. Eunhye bounces on her feet while cheering.

“I was worried it would taste terrible,” you joke, eyeing the slight male with amusement.

“We’re lucky that the potions don’t really taste like anything. Don’t give the game programmers any ideas,” Suga replies with wry smile.

“Don’t think that you’re off the hook, Dracula,” Eunhye cuts in, prodding Jin’s large shoulder firmly. “Next time I hear you infect my dear friend, you’re getting the stake. And not the bloody kind.”

The blond man grimaces guiltily, but before he can say anything, you shake your head. “Ah, don’t worry about it. It wasn’t that serious and we had fun. Didn’t we?”

“Ahh,” Suga drawls thoughtfully. “I think I would have preferred working on my alchemy skills in the comfort of our guild home.”

“Don’t say that, Yoo – err, Suga,” Jin protests, tugging on Suga’s robe.

Before you can wonder what Jin’s slip was, the mint blue-haired male shrugs his hand away. “Come on, hyung, you owe us some lamb skewers since you got us into this mess in the first place.”

“Yes! Let’s go!” Eunhye chimes in agreement, quickly abandoning her aggressive stance.

Jin looks at you with a flustered expression as he scratches his neck. You give the older male a warm smile.

“That sounds great. Let’s have some more adventures.”


End file.
